AP season is fast-approaching and many students are starting to completely lose their minds. But what happens when AP season hits? We hit back! However, sometimes we don’t hit back in the right ways… Here are 5 ways to relieve your stress and 5 ways you definitely should not relieve your stress for AP exams!

DO:

1. Practice

The easiest way to overcome your nerves about an AP exam is to go over some example questions you have or can find on the internet. If you can get them right, you may calm some of your nerves about the big test!

2. Stress Ball

Stress balls are one of the easiest stress relievers out there. You can buy them at Dollar Tree if you’re desperate, or you could even make your own at home. Just use a deflated balloon, fill it with flour or sand, and tie it off. Voila!

3. Music

Listening to music is an easy way to  calm your nerves. Just listen to some of your favorite songs and maybe even sing or dance along with the tunes.

4. Work Out

Exercise isn’t always the first thing we think of, but usually, when someone is stressed, they have plenty of energy to burn off. If you can get into a habit of exercising to burn the stress away, you’re more likely to stick to the routine in the long run.

5. Write it Out

If you can’t focus because of the stress boiling inside of you, write feelings down or type it into notes on your phone. Better yet, send it to your friend in a text and see if they can think of a way to help you out.

DON’T:

1. Binge Netflix to “Forget About it”

While Netflix may be your go-to buddy in the summer or on long nights when you don’t know what else to do, now is not the time to rewatch all of Riverdale or To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. They’re great shows, but they’re neither helping you prepare nor lower your stress levels on a larger scale.

2. Stress-Eat

If you’re stressed, you should never over-eat because when you finish eating, you’ll get stressed over eating too much and gaining weight. You’ll instantly become more stressed overall in a vigorous cycle. It’s rather unfortunate, but you should never just continue to eat when you’re stressed.

3. Keep it Bottled Inside

Keeping your feelings to yourself never ends up beneficial to you, so you should definitely tell someone that you’re feeling stressed and you want some help calming down before exam day. They may offer to help you study, or offer to go to the gym or on a walk, or they just might tell you they’re stressed out too. You’ll realize that all you need is to hear that you’re not alone in this.

4. Skip School so You Don’t Have to Deal With it

If you skip school, you’ll not only likely do the 3 previous items on the list , but you’ll also miss out on most of the  the last bits of information for your exams.

5. Give Up

Never ever give up. Even if you are so helplessly lost and don’t know what you’re doing, you should never give up. Just go in and take that test even if you don’t remember the first 5 digits of pi. It’s always going to be worth it to say “At least I never gave up.”

The news team wants to wish all Midland students the best of luck on their AP exams in the coming weeks!