The Clackamas print., May 21, 2014, Page 4, Image 4

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How will you stay focused?
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
by LIZ GOMES
associate photo editor
Though there are only three
weeks of school left this term,
many are too bogged down in
homework and general stress to
see the light at the end of the tun­
nel. It takes every last bit of energy
for teachers to keep the attention
of their overwhelmed students
long enough to get through the
final chapters of their curricu­
lum. Long days of deadlines and
tedious group projects are made
worse by the beautiful weather
beckoning us to come outside.
Summer is so close, vet so far,
and it seems impossible to finish
the school year strong when most
of us have , already checked out.
The Print staff are no strangers
to the hemorrhaging morale and
vacant stares present in the final
weeks of spring term, but we’ve
mustered up enough energy to
share tips that we’ve used and are
using to push us to that finish line.
- If you’ve reached your break­
ing point, there’s no shame in tak­
ing a personal day. Whether you
choose to catch up on homework
or sleep for eighteen hours straight,
if you choose a day that you can
make up whatever assignments
you miss, go for it. The world won’t
crumble. Just don’t make it a habit;
one day is about all you can miss
without potentially compromis­
ing your grade, so make it count.
-Watch your caffeine and sugar
intake. Unnecessary jitters and
crashes only make things worse,
and the quality of your work will
show Jt. Just try to eat well and
get as much sleep as you can.
-W hat you absorb outside o f
school affects your m ental state.
I f you’re reading a depressing
book, watching shows that piss you
off, or hanging out with negative
people, it sticks with you. Take
a break from what troubles you
until the summer, and try to sur­
round yourself with positive things.
-De-clutter your life. If your
purse, car, room, desk, etc. are
messy, they can actually cause
anxiety and distraction. Take a
moment to toss out all the Taco
Bell receipts and soda bottles and
straighten up.
-Watch the things you eat.
Some of us are so burnt out that
we often rely on terrible food
choices to get us through the day.
Put down the bag of chips and pick
up a salad. Eating healthier for you
often makes you feel 10 times bet­
ter than you did before. The empty
calories also stack up, meaning an
extra couple pounds to add onto
the burnt out stress.
-Take a couple hours to enjoy
the nice weather. A run, walk,
dance or anything that gets your
heart beating will often help dis­
tract from your bad feelings and
boost your endorphins. Your feel
good hormones.
-Find a good venting system.
Write a letter you’ll never send,,
or a Facebook post you’ll never
hit the ‘post’ button on. Keeping
negative emotions all bottled up
helps neither you nor the people
around you who are subject to
a lash out of negative emotions.
-P rint out a calendar so you
can cross off days as they hap­
pen. Visualizing, how few days
we actually have left will make
the tasks at hand more manage­
able. Print o u ta calendar so you
can cross off days, as they hap­
pen. Visualizing now few days we
actually have left will make the
tasks at hand more manageable.
-Finally, try to be encouraging
to your peers. They’re probably
in the same boat you are, and a
smiling face o r helping hand may
be the one thing they need to keep
them from giving up.
Oregon’s invention at play
,
------ - J
Above: Clackamas student Erick Ruhl ‘hacks’ with fellow st
Learning Center. Right: John Kissner enjoys the sunny day
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