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JEWISH NEWS

JN

teen teen

may 24, 2007

4 teens by teens

T2T staff photo by Morgan Pomish

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Kelsey Ransde11,16, and Scott Mettler, 15, both of North Farmington High School; Max Trotz, Farmington Harrison High School; and Amy Silberstein, 16, of NFHS.

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the topsy-turvy world of teens

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Life is a complicated juggling act of responsibilities, studies, friends and more.

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1 1

Sarah's juggling act

ust imagine a desk piled with work. It's already 6 and you just got home from an after-school activity. No time for
dinner. You get to work, wishing you could hang out with friends instead. But there's that paper due tomorrow.
You're making progress, then glance at the clock — 10 p.m. When did that happen? Now you're really nervous
. because you have a huge test tomorrow, too. You've got to get a good grade or there's no way your parents will let
you hang out with friends, maybe for the rest of your life.
You finish the report at 11:30, then devote another 90 minutes to the test, trying to cram as much
info into your head as possible, but it just doesn't stick. You want sleep. Then, in a panic, you remember
something your teacher asked you to do. Too late. You already crashed, head on your textbook, asleep.
Sound familiar? To most teens, it does. But does it have to be that way?
In this issue, we look at the art of juggling and give tips for keeping the balls in the air.

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By Sarah Spitzer, 16, Yeshivat Akiva, Southfield

a break to listen to music or play my

guitar. i take my mind off of everything

and then I'm ready to go back and tackle

r; my work.'

—

Rebecca Grossman, 15, Oak Park

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"To deal with stress, l try to relax and let

it blow over. I like to keep ahead and not

overbook myself from the beginning. I try

to get work done as soon as I can rather

trj than procrastinate, so that way i don't

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have to worry so much."

—

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Joshua Diem, 18, Oak Park

"Running is my BEST stress reliever!"

Rachel's juggling act

t seems we've turned into hard-working monsters, working at full force every day, with too many things on our plates.
Not only can this juggling act make you tired, more importantly it can make you stressed.
Like most teenagers, I find myself constantly having to make decisions on how to balance my stress and activities.
When everything gets to be too much to handle, I have to prioritize and think about what is important.
Often, to cope with my busy schedule, I like to take a "power nap," a 10- to 20-minute rest that gives me an extra burst
of energy. Making to-do lists also helps me manage my stress because being able to cross something off my list gives me
a sense of accomplishment. Taking breaks to talk to my friends, listen to music and chat online also helps to relieve stress
between activities.
Michelle Klein, a social worker who specializes in treatment for adolescents, thinks it is important to make time to do
nothing, to relax and cut back when you are overloaded.
"Teenagers need to make sure to have time to do nothing, and be able to spend quality time with family and friends.
It's also important to have chill time, to talk, listen and get everything off your chest," she advised.
"It's easy to forget to recall things that bring you joy when you are trying to please everyone," she said.
When I feel overloaded, stressed and tired, I take a break, relax and do the things that make me happy.
This gives me the energy to turn that hard-working monster into a happy, high-achieving person. The
balancing act never ends, but prioritizing and taking breaks helps me keep everything from falling off
my plate.

By Rachel Margolin, 14, Frankel Jewish Academy, West Bloomfield

'When I'm stressed out, I stop and take

continues on page 3 1.

— Lisa Corey (Hadas' mom), 43,

of Birmingham

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—

• •

"When I have a lot to do, or know I have

something big coming up. I like to plan

ahead and get as much done as I can in

advance."

— Helen

SIMORS,

17, West Bloomfield

To balance out stress and use my time

wisely, I find it helpful to mark down

things that need to be done in a calen-

dar to help me stay organized."

— Milan Salian, 15, Franklin