Stress Relief by: Dawson Unger

I know, I know, you missed me. But I’ve been doing a lot since my last blog. I’m in my sophomore year now, almost finished with the first semester. And I definitely love this year much more than last, saying that I’m used to a very strict workload and the stress of teachers not working with your needs. But this year has been lots of fun; I won states for marching band, went to homecoming with my girlfriend, and went to NCTE Saint Louis!


Starting the school year, I was introduced to what would become my favorite and least favorite classes within the first 5 minutes. Within the first 2 weeks, I had 2 C’s and the rest A’s and B’s, which sparked a response by my parents of “No gym” which was really my only stress reliever at the time, because I couldn’t skate because of marching band, and it was too cold. So pretty soon I was beyond stressed, and couldn’t do my homework in my own house. Pretty quickly I found a solution to that problem: going over to a coffee shop and putting away my phone. If I had any questions Id just ask my girlfriend to help, or keep me focused. I still think that this was necessary in keeping sane during the whole first quarter, with giving me an incentive to do my homework (because if I finished all of it, id let myself buy a brownie) and giving me a space where I worked very well.


I had one of the best few weeks ever this first semester too, from October 28th to November 19th. You can probably guess one of the reasons if you follow my twitter or blogs, but in this time I went to homecoming, won states for marching band, went to watch my girlfriend at the states competition for cheerleading, had one of the best birthdays, and went to NCTE. I can’t say that this is the first time going to homecoming, but it’s the first time I’ve gone with a date, and had a very good time. This was the first time I’ve ever really been able to stop caring about anything else and just live in the moment, and that’s what this time frame really turned into, and I think I needed it. Just a few days after homecoming I went to Norfolk, VA for marching band, and rode on the floor of a school bus for 7 hours straight there, then 11 hours back. I’m very happy for it, but my phone died an hour after we arrived in Norfolk, and it gave me time to just be happy, and not worrying about anyone but me. Just a few days after the competition I had my 16th birthday, easily one of my best.  I made real friends, this year who knew me and I can talk to about anything. I feel like that was my biggest present this year, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

The last big thing was NCTE in Saint Louis; I got a rush from that that I could never replicate, no matter what. I have a fear of being in front of people, but once I’m there, I love it. By far my favorite thing there was our rap, something I could have never imagined doing in front of anyone, because I never even did it in front of my parents. The first time we did it I had the biggest shivers before, but after I felt like I was taking up the whole room, it was amazing. Then we went back an hour after and did another rap, and got a standing ovation. All of these things I think helped grow me as a person, giving me a sense of responsibility for myself and just time to stand over all the stress that’s been weighing down on me.


I can confidently say that everyone needs his or her stress relievers, and that doesn’t mean going on a 2-hour flight across the country, but even just driving over or walking over to the closest coffee shop to do some homework and just listen to the music you need. Because having those little stress relievers makes the biggest difference in your work ethic and I find that it makes me less tired.