After several days of relaxation during winter break, Holy Cross students and faculty came back to school to the return of stress.
For many students it is a hard time with summer is so far away it seems out of reach, and there are no big celebrations or holidays around the corner. Sophomore Colette Johnson is the lead role in the spring play this year and has trouble keeping her work up to date with everything going on.
“After winter break, there is a big wave of stress and workload that comes onto the students. I feel like all the grade levels can agree on this,” Johnson emphasized. “It feels the same as last year where there is lots of work and tests in all of my classes.”
Although LOTAs have some feeling of burden from their classes, Holy Cross has many resources and time for students to talk to teachers and do their homework. Junior Claire Dooren is a transfer student to Holy Cross this year and she loves the amount of free time to do work and other activities.
“I love all of the resources at Holy Cross. It’s great to have an hour almost every day at Tartan Time to just do our work and talk to teachers if we need to,” Dooren expressed.
Teachers also experience some level of stress from the second semester. They want to help out their students with the workload but also want to prepare them for next year. Freshmen theology teacher Patricia Petruzzelli, also feels stress and is a little overwhelmed during the second semester.
“Second semester is feeling long, there aren’t as many breaks,” Petruzzelli said. “I can tell my students are ready for spring break and they are feeling the bigger workload as their teachers get them ready for next year.”
Although school work can get daunting and hard for everyone, students have great access to talk with teachers and counselors.
“During my study halls and Tartan Time I like to go talk to my teachers if I’m having any trouble with my work,” Johnson emphasized. “I love how much time we get to make up tests and quizzes or really just do whatever we need to maximize our time wisely.”
Because this time after winter break is cold and not sunny, and the warm weather seems so far off, students can feel a little less motivated to study and put full effort into all assignments. What can help are events that Holy Cross puts on to keep the fun and spirit up through this tough time.
“We have fun activities like Barbie day, we have sports pep rallies, and lots of different activities and competitions throughout school,” Doreen expressed.
