Newspapers / Saint Mary’s School Student … / Nov. 1, 1988, edition 2 / Page 1
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«' Igelles nf OInlUgc Volume XLVIll, Number 3 November 1988 Adjusting to High School At SMC SGA Fall Formal By Ellen Zimmerman The air was filled with excitement on Saturday afternoon before the SGA dance. All that could be heard on the halls were hairdryers running, showers going, and girls trying to find something to do with their hair and makeup. Girls could be heard yel ling things like “Help! Where are my cur lers!" and “My date is here and I haven’t even done my hair!” Somehow we all got (Continued on page 3) “Ladyhouse Blues” on stage at Saint Mary’s (see review on page 4.) By Elizabeth Stephenson Exams are right around the corner, ''''hich means that a lot of the students at Saint Mary’s will be buckled down to their ^oks for a week or two. If you are smart ®^d know how to prepare ahead, then ®xam stress most likely will not be a prob lem for you. But if you are like many of us ''''ho put off studying until a day or two be- ^ore the exam, you will be suffering with 'he dreadful sickness of “EXAM STRESS. I Went around school and asked many ^'udents what they do to relieve their “Exam stress.” in high school, the most Common relief is eating and taking naps. So if you see girls who have put on a few ®>rtra pounds around exam time, the cause probably "STRESS.” High school stu- ''^nts use some unusual ways to relieve ®'i’ess: Ellen Zimmerman said, “I forget that I books, put on a good tape and sing my Meg Tuttle said, “I talk to my boyfriend, ''ohn, and cry.” Lara Sykes, whose father is a pharma- takes stress tablets! Alexandra Quilici said that she enjoys a By Katherine Cloninger Although the high school and the college of Saint Mary’s are located on the same campus, the high school students are of fered a distinct advantage. High school stu dents, for the most part, tend to agree the major transition was worth it. Saint Mary’s exposes students to a college curriculum, as well as a college atmosphere, and gives the high school the opportunity to take ad vanced courses on the college level. How do the students themselves feel about the workload at Saint Mary’s, the pre sence of a college atmosphere, the level of difficulty, and the overall Saint Mary’s advantage? In order to answer these ques tions, The Belles distributed a question naire that was answered by most high school students. Question #1 stated: How does Saint Mary’s compare, on the level of difficulty, to your previous school? Eighty percent of the students polled felt that Saint Mary’s is considerably harder than their previous schools. In many cases, students did not feet that studying was necessary-before and the teachers showed an obvious lack of interest. Some comments were as fol lows: “Saint Mary’s is much harder and of fers more opportunities.” “Saint Mary’s compared to my former school is 25% har der because of the college professors, and the overall prevailing college atmosphere.” “Saint Mary’s is a lot more difficult than my former school because the teachers expect so much more from you and everyone is required to be a lot more responsible.” A small percentage felt that Saint Mary s is less difficult than their former schools. These comments included: “There is less academic pressure at Saint Mary’s and homework assignments and projects do not promote enough creativity and originai- ity.” “I find Saint Mary’s easier because the assignments are not as challenging, and there is less pressure.” One aspect that must be taken into con sideration is not everyone comes from the same caliber of school. For instance, 100% of those interviewed who came from rural high schools and boarding schools not noted for academic excelience believe that Saint Mary’s is extremely challenging and are confident that they will be very prepared for college because of the Saint Mary’s ex perience. However, respondents from urban public high schools, other boarding schools, and day schools were more di vided. About 73% of this category stated that Saint Mary’s offers more challenging work and the remaining percentage said that the work here is more or less equal to that bf their previous schoois. All felt they benefitted from the significant amounts of personal attention, as well as the demand ing professors. All of the 7.5% who felt that Saint Mary’s is Jess difficult than their former schools came from top ranking prep schools known for stiff competition or schoois designed for the performing arts. Twelve and one-half percent feel that Saint Mary’s is comparable to their previ ous schools. This percentage is comprised of students who attended challenging urban public high schools and other noteworthy boarding and day schools. Re marks were as follows: “Saint Mary’s is about the same, depending on classes.” “The workload at Saint Mary’s is greater, but the work itself is not harder.” The next question asked, “In what ways have study habits changed?” Eighty-five percent of the students polled find them selves studying more at Saint Mary’s. Two percent said they study less at Saint Mary’s, while 12% study about the same as before. One of the biggest transitions that new students face is a different method of study ing. Most students are not as accustomed to the late night study hours at first, and have trouble managing their time well. Some take advantage of the adequate time between classes for studying, while the overwhelming majority of students use this time to sleep, catch up on soap operas, and visit the cafe. In this case, selt-discipline is the answer to managing time well. Students also find it hard to study among distrac tions. For example, few students have pre viously had to put up with noisy neighbors, someone else’s music blaring, the more than occasional drop-ins, and an annoying Belles staff member requesting completed questionnaire responses. One question probably running through everyone’s mind as they enter the college admissions process is “How prepared will I be for college after attending Saint Mary’s?” About 86 percent of the students felt they would be adequately prepared academically. A few comments read: “After five years. . .about as prepared as I’ll ever be.” “Hopefully very prepared I know that I will be definitely more prepared for college than I would have at my old school, not only academically, but also socially.” Many respondents felt there is a social benefit as well: “I know that I will be prepared socially. I feel I have an advantage over high school students who haven’t been away. I’ll know how to manage time and I’ll be ready men tally.” Exam Stress good book when trying to take her mind off studying. Geni Wade and Catherine Coombs both replied in unisome “What’s studying? Katie Landry said that she gets a kick out of bothering her neighbors in the dorm. Anna Brooks and Holli Donnell said they enjoy going for a run whenever their heads get too boggled. Alix Dyer confessed that she screams and hits her roommate, and she believes it helps! Meredith Taylor takes the wimpy ap proach and cries. Ashley Ray throws her books, so be ware! Heather Smithwick said, “I smoke a lot, call my parents and bawl to them, then I got real hyper and scream. Most college students claim that they get in their car and drive around: the truth hid den in that statement is PARTY! Theyhave a little more freedom than highschool stu dents so they can do more. There was only one truly unique answer from an anonymous college student, which was just hope I’ll get married someday and it won’t matter.” If you want to avoid exam stress al together, then the “big” key is to prepare ahead of time. Some tips from Ms. Gunter are: 1. Study in moderate intervals so that you don’t get too tired too fast. 2. When studying more than one subject, take breaks between subjects so that you don’t confuse the subjects. 3. Do not be intimidated by the word “EXAM.” 4. Relax while you are studying, don’t be tense. 5. Make sure you get enough sleep. But if you are one of those people who just can’t avoid procrastination, Mrs. Hicks suggests that you should: 1. Exercise — she believes that exercise is the best way to relieve stress of any kind. 2. Watch your caffeine intake because caffeine makes you nervous. 3. Eat regular meals and get plenty of sleep. Obviously, studying ahead of time is the best way to avoid exam stress. If you are still stressed out over the prospect of exams, just keep in mind that they will be over soon and all that stress will be re warded with a vacation.
Saint Mary’s School Student Newspaper
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Nov. 1, 1988, edition 2
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