As the end of the school year looms in a few months, testing comes up upon the horizon. Juniors will start to gear up to take their SATs while the rest of high schoolers prepare for the semester’s finals. During this time, and the school year in general, it is important to become aware of mental health. One of the best ways to do so is to have a passion.

Passion comes in all different shapes and sizes. Stemming from sports, recreational activities, and art, passion is what gives people their individuality. As well as giving the student’s a peace of mind and outlet that is key to keeping a healthy mental psyche.

There are endless benefits of taking time out of one’s day to express creativity. According to Liberty University, “Having a creative outlet helps you deal with anxiety and stress, gives you a sense of purpose, and helps make space to overcome obstacles.”

Creativity has proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. As the school year goes along, the stress sometimes tends to ramp up. The Economic Bureau of Economic Research discovered that students’ level of a stress hormone, cortisol, rises by about 15 percent on average in the week when high-stakes standardized tests are given.

This lingering stress can in turn have nasty health effects on high school students. Even making the human body sick and causing heart failure in extreme cases. Overall this stress that stems from high-pressure stakes like important tests should be resolved in some sort of way.

New York University believes that, “Extreme levels of stress can hinder work effectiveness and lead to poor academic performance and attrition.”

If this does happen to be the case, there must be ways in which to counteract this cycle. Introducing successful coping strategies may help students avoid the destructive consequences of excessive stress. Perhaps, the most important of these strategies is having a passion outside of school.

Imani Cambel, a writer for the Neuroscience Center has a big passion for art he believes that, “Art plays a different role in every person’s life in an intricate way. Personally, my passion (art) allows me to process my emotions and reduce stress.”

There are many different passions in the world and each one is so important to the mental wellbeing of a person.

Chase Chandler, a junior from A-West says that, “My passion is playing video games, mainly because it motivates me and gets me going.”

In Chandler’s case video games rejuvenate him and clear his mind. Chandler reiterates, “When I am gaming I forget about school and for a moment I forget everything that I may be worried about.” 

During any season of life, but especially the season we are embarking on, students should focus on pursuing their passions or whatever clears and cleanses their minds in order to get the best test results this year. Mental health is of the utmost importance and our minds only become healthier when we achieve true happiness.