Student Stress & Study Tips

Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge that the Falcons nest podcast is produced, recorded and distributed on treaty six territory, the traditional lands of many diverse first nations including Cree, Dene Nakota, Soto and Dakota, as well as the traditional homeland of the matey. The Falcons as podcast team pays their respects to the First Nations and Metis ancestors of this land, and is committed to truly listening and learning as we work towards reconciliation together. If you're listening in a different location, please take the time to acknowledge the original stewards of the land you are currently on. Hello, and welcome to episode two of the Falcons Nest podcast. I'm your host, Liam McKay-Argyriou. Thank you for listening to today's episode. For those of you who are new, you will be immersed into auditory experience about Marion Graham Collegiate they'll connect you to your peers, school and community in ways you never thought to be possible. We will learn about upcoming events. Hear from a wide variety of students and learn some great tips related to your physical, mental and emotional health. Well launch your headphones because we're jumping right into it. On today's episode, podcast club member Malachi Gunther will captivate you as he examined student stress and study tips, a much-requested topic from our listeners. He will be joined by a well-known teacher here at MMGCI Mrs. Bevan. Before that. Let's listen in as Malka has a chat with today's featured Falcon marine Marina is a grade 12 student who recently received a $30,000 scholarship to the U of S. And today, she's here to share some information about this amazing accomplishment with but first prizes. The Falcons Nests podcast is offering a $50 Staples gift card to listeners to enter wait until you hear the prize code which will be revealed later in the episode. Once you know the code, click on the Google Form link in the description and follow the instructions. Good luck. And now I'm gonna send it over to Molokai.

Now we have an interview with our lovely featured Falcon OF THE WEEK Marine. I always forget how to say your last name Chun Tae. Is that right? Yeah, let's go. Kit and marine. So from what I've heard around the school is that you received an amazing $30,000 scholarship for your schooling. Is that correct?

Yes, it is.

Wow, just what did you have to do to earn that $30,000 scholarship?

Well, we're talking about the application or school in general. Let's see both. Okay. Well, the application is just asked like, a bunch of questions like paragraph questions. It was like, What have you learned in school? And then write about that? What have you learned in life and all that stuff, and the extra kicker and all that stuff. And then school, generally see I have a thing where I like, I get assignments, and then I feel like I don't have enough time to finish them. So I panic, and I got a little panic mode, and I just get all them done. And I think that's why and then. And then I feel like I have to like get everything perfectionist. I am a very much perfectionist. And so I had to get done little details, everything. And I think that's why I have such a high average

case. So just a hard-working perfectionist with lots of goals in life. What are you going to be using the scholarship for? Are you going to school? What what are you going to school for? If you don't mind me asking?

Well, my plan is law school, but I have to get like university experience before law school. So I'm gonna go into a degree of business economics and then go into law school.

And then will you be taking that business schooling here in Saskatoon or will you be going abroad for that?

I will be for business. I'll be going to hear you Sask.

Okay, that sounds amazing, man. We can live planned out over here. And then with this scholarship, have you found any added stress with your school? Or with your schooling in general? Or has it been smooth sailing for the most part? Yeah, it's been okay. Okay. Considering that, based off my knowledge of, Oh, you got the scholarship, you're a really smart student. Do you have any good study tips for any of the students out there listening to this? Who might also want to get that scholarship like you did? Hmm.

Honestly, I would just say like, try your best and I'm a perfectionist, perfectionist. And so I get down the details. And so I mean, if you want to, like bring your average up in that sense, I guess, make sure you're down to the details. Make sure you know everything. Really ask for help. I think that's one of the things like I don't know, a lot of people's prides get in the way mines whatever. Um, And then don't ask for help. But I like I think like, if you're struggling, ask people for help look online, ask your friends for help. And like, I think that really helps. And then we have some really good teachers here that can explain things really nicely. So that helps.

So what I got from that is just don't lean on yourself completely look to others as well.

Yeah, like don't, just don't stress yourself out too much. Like, if you're struggling, reach out and like it can make it easier. So you're not stressed about other things and which leads leads you to mess up.

Wow, that is an amazing answer. Thank you so much. I think that is it. I can't think of anything else. That was such good information. Thank you so much, Mahreen.

You're welcome.

I'm Malachi Gunther and today we're going over some studying and stress tips. So first off, we have some facts about both of them. Here's the studying facts. So first up, we got more information doesn't always mean more learning. Isn't that weird? Also, next up, making mistakes are an essential part of learning. I learned that one the hard way. Also, this one I actually really like this one is the brain requires novelty. So you can't just be learning the same thing every day, right? Also, apparently, emotions influence our ability to learn. So I guess if you're really mad, you might not be learning too much. Also, something that I am super happy with for school is apparently social interaction is good for learning. Also, one last one for studying facts, our brain functions on the use it or lose it principle. So if you're not using what you're actually studying, you may just end up forgetting it. And now we're moving on to the facts about stress. Did you know apparently 45% of students in high school admit to being stressed almost every day in school. That's crazy. I know a lot of my friends aren't usually that stress, but apparently they may hide it. Next up 61% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17. feel stress over producing satisfactory grades. parents out there, you might want to, you know, get some pressure off your kids then. Okay, next up, this one's actually preaching a different message. A little stress is actually good for you. I like this one. It's good. Next up is stress can be acute or chronic. stress causes muscle aches and tightness. Wow, I wish I knew that earlier.

Hey there listeners. We hope you're enjoying the episode so far. But now it's prized code time. The code is Saskatoon in all capital letters. To enter to win, please click on the Google Form link in the description and follow the instructions. Thank you for your support. And now back to the show.

And here for our next interview. We have Miss Bevan. Hi, guys. Okay, so Miss Bevan today, we have a couple questions for you about studying and some stress questions about back when you were in high school, university, and even now. Awesome. So thanks for having me. Okay. Our first question is, what are some of your best studying tips for students either looking to go into college or ones that are struggling with their current classes?

Yeah, so I teach a grade 9, 10, 11, 12. And it's it definitely seems like it's only natural that priorities change in grade nine students are trying to figure out how high school works in grade 12. They're more just looking ahead there. They want to get into university. So a lot of students, their mindset is entirely about the grade. And that makes sense, because so many rely on tuition assistance, and so on. But I think like one thing I'm really happy today to talk about is that the difference between a 90 and a 93, for example, or an 80 and a 90 even often really doesn't make a huge difference. It really is about your attitude to learning and your approach and your willingness to be open and to do to do your best in that post secondary field. So I kind of forgot now what your question was, your question was like, how, what are some good study tips? Yeah. So specifically, it's about time management, right? So that is the number one thing and something that's I'm guilty of, as well as is procrastinating. So it's a tale as old as time it's super cliche. Even just the word procrastination like you. You all hear your teachers say it but it is really the truth. So you want to if you know a test is coming up, the very, very best thing that you can do is start shrinking and compiling your material into your own custom study guide. So take like a piece of loose leaf or scrap paper. and build a concept map of how things are related to each other just really summarize in your own personal language because we all have our own shorthand that only we understand the main concepts and get your teacher to check it like, do I have everything here so that when it gets called, you know, just take like five minutes after the end of the lesson or at the end of the day and add to your study guide as you go. And then when your test is approaching, you're not sifting through how many pages of material trying to find the relevant info and then decipher it, figure out what's important. So that would be my number one study tip and two, super short and sweet, talk to your teacher, communicate with your teachers. There's nothing more that we like better, we want to see your interest. We want to know what you need. And I guarantee you, we'll help you get it.

Well, both of those study tips sound absolutely amazing. And I'm actually finding myself using both of them actually, in your chemistry class.

That's awesome. Perfect. So

now we move on to the next question. Ready? And this one brings you back to your high school days, actually. So were there any classes that required more or less studying than others, like weather classes that came more naturally where you didn't need to study?

Yeah, definitely English history. I've always loved to read. And I love history. That's actually my other major besides chemistry. So I didn't really feel like I needed to study as hard for those classes as long as I read the material. And like I said, I've always liked reading and so on. So that wasn't really as much of a big deal. It was for sure the math and the science classes, interestingly, that I found the most difficult and that I often hated. I can think of two classes off the top of my head that were math and science that I despised, I absolutely despised and I came from a pretty turbulent household growing up, it wasn't super easy, pretty dysfunctional. And my younger sister also really struggled with, with math and to this day is is traumatized. Just by like basic math, she'll see a word problem and just look at me and just be like, That is disgusting and gross. So she used to come home from school, absolutely white-faced, and just like, just sick from like, math, trauma is kind of what I call it. And I've talked to my students before, like how many people hate math, and so many of them, not just hate it, but it makes them just like physically depressed and down. So, so that is something. Luckily, I didn't really experience it to that degree. But yeah, there were lots of classes that did not come easily to me. And it was necessary to develop what I call and what I tell my students, my little tips, tricks hacks to be successful, because I was determined to break out of that chaotic environment out of that situation, that home life that I really struggled with, and to be successful. So I knew I wasn't really gonna get any support at home. And it was just going to be relying on these these little things. So yeah, study guides, little mini study guides, talking to my teachers developing relationships, like teacher student relationships is so important talk to them. You don't have to say anything you don't want to but but give your teachers context about where you're coming from, because it helps us see you not as just like student, six of 36, but a real person who needs maybe a little extra help now and then so yeah,

well, thank you very much for all that. I very much agree with you on a lot of that stuff. Especially how some classes definitely come more naturally than others. We have one more study in question. And this is how do you or how did you like to study? And was it with other people? Was it by yourself? And or was it in a, like a special place? Like instead of in your house, like at some cafe or like some quiet place? under a tree? Like in a field? I don't?

Well, actually, yeah. And I mean, maybe for some people, but none of that applied to me, it is all entirely about your mindset, like you have to be in the right mood, I want to say to study and you have to, you have to be in the right headspace to study and you could do that on a bus, you could do that on your couch surrounded by people, you could do that in the middle of a classroom. But if you're not in the mood to study and you're not willing to learn the material at that time, put it down, let it sit, take a break, and then come back to it. But yeah, there's lots of times where you're going to have to psych yourself up to study. It's the reality of the situation. It's not like my chosen hobby. I don't think it's really there's not a lot of people that can say that their favorite thing to do is study, but it's necessary, right? It's just it's necessary, and it's part of human experience. It's why we have these incredible brains and every since every once in a while just like I hate vacuuming but it's got to get done. Like there's things we have to do and you need to carve out some time and and then decide what It works for you. So for some students, it's by themselves. One thing that I actually didn't realize until university that was really helpful for me was to sit down and and talk it out with another student like, like, so this is a ketone, this is what it looks like. This is how you change the ending. And that's because teaching other people is actually the number one way that we learned something. So number two is by doing but the number one way that you can teach or learn material is by teaching it to others. So make a fake YouTube video. Like there's so many talk it out work through the material, I guarantee you not only is it more entertaining, but you'll learn more and also have snacks, lots of snacks.

Wow, another amazing answer to another good question.

This is very validating, I'm really enjoying this.

Well, I'm glad you're having a good time here. And then we're halfway through the questions. And now we're on to the stress questions. So are there any tips and tricks to help manage stress while in high school?

Yeah, this is gonna sound blunt, and I want to explain myself a little bit more, but one is get used to it. So stress, again, is part of the human experience, so is anxiety. And, you know, I've told my students many times I have generalized anxiety disorder. So it's just something I've grown up with. But I also tell my students would often never know it, because there are ways to cope with it. Every once in a while, I might be a little bit salty, because I got a lot of my mind. But stress and anxiety is totally normal. It's just a little just like everything I love. It's a chemical, it's called cortisol. So the stress hormone, which is cortisol can spike when we are in uncomfortable situations. So say like, all five of your teachers assign assignments that are due at the same time, right, that's a spike in cortisol, or maybe you almost get in a traffic accident, that's a spike in cortisol. So it really is about that mindset, because students who studies show that students who believe that they can learn the material, they can do the assignment that you know, with the right time management and study skills, they can do it, their cortisol levels will come down. But students who believe that they are stupid, or that they is too hard, or they just have no idea how to approach it, those cortisol levels, stay spiked. And that can, you know, change everything from the way your brain works to your eating habits. So just overall, just give you a really sense, overall sense of being unhealthy. So one thing I really want to work with my students is that like, being uncomfortable is okay, being stressed out is okay. And it's not forever. And that's something we're going to cover in chemistry right away is like, I've said this before, everything wants to the universe wants you to come back to level. So you just have to tell yourself that this will pass you'll be okay. And just to figure out, you know, ways to tackle things. So hopefully that answers your question a little bit.

Oh, yeah. And I just want to say thank you for putting that bluntly, I find that blunt things like that often get the point across a lot faster. Okay, great. So thank you. Yeah, no worries. And then, oh, this one goes to what stresses you out the most in school, either currently, or when you were in school for either high school or your college university degree?

Well, when I was in high school, I think I just I felt a little bit lost a lot of the time, I didn't know what I wanted to do. You know, we didn't learn my family didn't have a lot of money. And I was I often made the mistake of linking high school success with access to resources, you know, like, being able to go to a bookstore and buy the books that I need to be successful, and so on. And I think a lot of students feel that way, too, is that they need more things or more access to things to be successful. And that's not the case, your teachers 100% will give you the tools that you need, just talk to us. So like in terms of projects, and so on, there's all kinds of things available, you just need to to, like I said, be communicative and not shut down right away. So just linking, like I said, my experience in high school to today, that would be one thing I recommend, I'm going to really harp on this talk to your teachers, even if you feel like your relationship may not be the best. It doesn't matter. It's our job, right? Our job is to help you. And at the end of the day, that's why we all became teachers. So maybe your personalities aren't exactly similar. You would be probably really surprised to just go up and say like, I just really don't know where to start with this and don't say, I don't know what to do, right? Like, if you go up with like a slightest semblance of a plan, like this is what I want to do. Can you give me an idea of where to start 99 out of 100 teachers will take that humility and be and just really, really help you. What I am stressed out as a teacher is like care about my students and it makes me sad and stressed out to see my students unhappy. I wish I could fix all your problems, but all I can really do is help you find the tools and then just the amount of students that miss school, that's probably my biggest concern. Students Miss for a variety of reasons vacations, illness, you know, the numbers of reasons could go on and on and on. But regardless, it means they're missing instruction. And I just sometimes you end up coming up with like personalized ketchup plans for so many different students, and then they fall through the cracks. And, and that's just hard. So again, it all i That's why I like Edsby a lot of people don't like Edsby, but I can put everything on Edsby and know that my students have access to it. If they're having a bad day, or they're in Mexico or whatever, they can access a class and be connected. So that would be my stresses, but I'm problem solving, and problem solving and friends.

And our final question is, do you find school currently to be stressful?

In what capacity Malachi? like as a teacher? Or what do you or do you? Am I looking through the lens of a student? Or do you

think as a teacher and as a student, like, just inherently is school stressful for everybody?

It's different. The job has changed in 15 years. I think that we aren't talking about social media pressures enough for our students, and tech addiction. Teachers and students are addicted to phones. You know, I'm carrying mine right now. I don't need it. I have an Apple Watch. Why do I need my phone, but it is what it is like I carry it around. So I think there's a couple of things that maybe we aren't addressing as much as we need to be. And those are causing huge, huge, huge sources of anxiety and stress for our students. I don't think it has anything to do with workload. Because in all honesty, you guys have more support than I ever did in high school. Whether it be access to YouTube videos, where there are I've said this before many people who are trying to make a living explaining your exact concepts that you're learning in every single one of your classes, right. So I think you have access to supports teachers are doing so much training in mental health we are we really want you guys to be okay. You have, for the most part, like incredibly supportive and men. But it's those social factors, you guys, you are so competitive. You also have incredible social dynamics that you're trying to navigate the economy's supposedly tanking, you guys are worried about climate change. I think you've got a lot on your mind. But we just need to remind you how to just be teenagers who live in the greatest country in the world and in a fantastic school. So yes and no. Yes. And no Molokai, you're going to be okay. Just remember that I very, very high hopes for your generation. And for you guys.

Well, thank you very much for all the answers to all the questions and everything else. No, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. Wonderful interview. And thanks for coming out.

You guys. Have a good day.

You too. Thank you. Malachi student stress and studying are such relevant topics. And I'm glad that I got to hear some really helpful tips about that today. And I know our listeners learned a lot. Switching gears. Let's take a look at some of the current events happening at MMGCI right now. Your SRC presents Coffeehouse the annual community event is returning on April 19. With an amazing lineup of students who will showcase our jaw-dropping talents on a night filled with coffee and baked goods as well as some amazing prizes. I've heard that you can win one night stays to the local Holiday Inn coffee making machines and edible arrangements platter and a ton of gift cards. Tickets are $10 with a complimentary coffee and are available in the comments at lunch starting April 4. The entire community is invited. So bring your family and friends from other schools. You won't want to miss this exciting event. We have many new clubs popping up around the school, checkout or Paranormal Society for all things spooky and supernatural or try your hand at coding building and problem-solving with the robotics club. The eSports club is also accepting new members are free to come out and join a growing community of gamers. In addition, the yearbook club is also looking for new members. It's a great opportunity for writers, photographers and graphic designers. There's a club for everyone mm GCI. As the Bampton season continues, don't forget to come support our junior and senior teams at their home matches. The track and field season is heating up, so keep an eye out for events you can attend to cheer on our athletes. The Saskatoon Industry Education Council has lots of great workshops and camps for students interested in learning more about a particular career. Listen to announcements for more details. The FLS is having a year end soda sale every Friday in the commons comm check it out. If you see a member of the senior band or choir, wish them a bon voyage, they're headed to Cuba at the end of April. So if you want them to bring back a souvenir now's the time to ask. Well, listener we are almost out of time for today. In the next episode we're going to take a deep dive into two s LGBTQI plus mental health and allyship with a major guest. It's going to be a great one. So don't forget to listen in. As always, thank you for your support. Without listeners like you, this podcast would not exist in the form it does today. And we really appreciate you. If you want to provide feedback on your listening experience or you want to suggest students who should be interviewed. Send an email to Falcon nest podcast@gmail.com Don't forget to check out our website which is linked in the description. Fly high falcons and see you next time.