By Emily McElyea
“I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t a Christian because I wouldn’t have that higher power to give things to.”
Shiloh Bunch, a freshman at Delta High School, gets all A’s, participates in Fields of Faith, and competes in soccer and swimming.
But just like many students at Delta, she struggles with stress and anxiety.
“Just being close with God helps my anxiety go down,” Bunch said.
Bunch finds that most of her stress comes from swimming and school, but she has discovered many techniques that help her overcome stress. One of those is as simple as having a planner.
“Having a little thing they get to check off,” Bunch said, “it really helps you to feel complete when you get to check each thing off.”
Bunch also loves deep breathing, despite many people saying it doesn’t really work. Bunch strongly disagrees.
“I know most people don’t believe in deep breathing,” she said, “but it really does help when you get anxious.”
Stress is an emotion described as a state of worry or mental tension and is caused by a variety of things. Stress in teens typically originates from school, sports, and drama, all things that can be difficult to avoid.
But as people grow and change throughout their lives, so does their way of handling stress.
Everybody at Delta knows Ms. Joey Gossett as this year’s new principal. She’s the person who enforces rules and keeps the school running successfully, but it isn’t always as easy as it seems.
Gossett’s number one priority is making sure everyone in the building is safe, which can put her under intense pressure.
“I just prioritize and try to remember that there is always tomorrow,” Gossett said.
Gossett has also had to adjust to the new responsibilities that come with being a principal, but has been fortunate to have a strong support system to help her adjust.
“The central office, teachers, and even students, I think, are very supportive of me,” Gossett said.
A major part of her responsibilities as principal is getting things done as quickly as possible.
“At the end of the day for me, when it’s quiet in the office, I can stay over an hour or two and tie up some loose ends,” Gossett said.
Everyone has different ways to relieve stress. Some like to take deep breaths or pray, like Shiloh Bunch. Gossett is a big fan of being outside. She loves to garden and deeply enjoys playing with her dog.
Gossett tends to get the most stressed when she has many tasks she has to do all at once, but over the years she has gotten good at prioritizing.
“Prioritize what has to be done the soonest, what is the most important, so that way I can set some other things off,” Gossett said.
Alivia Jackson, a sophomore at Delta, has many responsibilities on her plate. Some come from being a part of the swim and dive team and others come from being the sophomore class president and school work.
Despite Jackson’s strong love for swimming, she can’t control the stress that comes with it.
“With swimming I’m always worrying if I’m swimming as well as I want, am I making my coaches happy, and if I’m making my team happy,” Jackson said.
Jackson also explained that, despite all the stress swimming causes her, she still relies on it as a stress reliever.
“Even though swimming stresses me out, it also helps me get away from my stress, because I can forget about everything going on at school and with the world,” Jackson said.
Being the sophomore class president also comes with responsibilities, like planning dances and fundraisers.
“I just make sure I’m not doing all the work, and that my officers are helping me,” Jackson said.
“If you work on making your mind strong, then you are more likely to live a healthier lifestyle,” said Tyronda Benning, varsity girls basketball coach.
Tyronda is now 36 years old, but she has been playing basketball since she was just five years old.
After graduating from Muncie Southside High School, Tyronda played basketball at a community college out of state for her first two years of college, then finished off her college basketball career with two years at Ball State. Right after she graduated college, she was then hired as an assistant basketball coach at Muncie Southside.
Over the years, Tyronda has learned what works and doesn’t work when handling her stress, whether it’s basketball related or not.
“Whatever you tell your brain is what your body will do, so I just tell my brain positive things.” Tyronda said.
She has found that having control over her situations makes handling her stress a lot easier.
“I have full control of the situations I’m put in, whether it’s work or what I do for recreational fun, so I just try and control what I do,” Tyronda said.
