Goodbye stress hello success

By: Lucy Pruitt

Staff Reporter

Being successful in school requires hard work, determination, and motivation, but sometimes doing everything needed to feel successful can bring overpowering stress. So, the question is, how do we do everything and still stay sane?

Freshman Lauren Pitts, athlete, accelerated student, and avid club member, tells us her way to stay calm, cool, and collected. “When I get stressed, I listen to music,” Pitts said. “It really relaxes me.” Pitts is involved in many different activities in the Hattiesburg area. These include being on the Oak Grove High School varsity soccer and junior varsity volleyball teams, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta, and U-15 girls Hattiesburg Futbol Club soccer team.

Pitts’s schedule is never ending. Her fourth block in school is soccer, so on any normal Monday or Wednesday, she goes from school soccer to school volleyball to club soccer to finishing up school work late at night. Her volleyball games are typically on Tuesdays and Thursdays; because of this, she has to cut out her club soccer on volleyball game days. On Fridays, she starts the day with FCA and ends with OG volleyball.

“My mom thinks I’m never home,” Pitts said.

In addition to juggling clubs and activities, Pitts also excels in academics. She has never made lower than an A on a report card and is in two accelerated classes.

Stress in teens is typically caused by disorganization and lack of time to relax because of a busy schedule. Knowing where everything you need is and being able to locate it easily is a great way to decrease your stress. “I try to keep things in the same place by having certain places for certain things,” Pitts said.

With a crazy schedule, Pitts doesn’t have much time to relax, so she does everything she can to make her life less stressful. “I don’t have much time to just chill,” Pitts said. “Sometimes I just feel like quitting, but when I do, I look around and try to find someone who will push me to be a better person or player.”

Finding motivation in everything you do can help you get through the stressful times. “My motivation is competition. It’s fun to compete in practices and games.”

Different things make different people stress out. Some people may seem to not stress at all. Maybe your way to de-stress is listening to music, too, or maybe taking bubble baths and drinking herbal tea works. You might try lots of different activities before you find the right one. Organization, motivation, and your own way to de-stress can help you say goodbye to stress and hello to success.

SPORTS, SCHOOLWORK, AND STRESS
Freshman Lauren Pitts balances academics and athletics by staying calm both in the classroom and on the field. | Photo by MARY KATE WALDRON