After a full day of school, sophomore Jaidyn Rogers arrives home and lets her backpack thud on the floor. Exhausted from her packed day, she must now trudge through her homework that was assigned earlier that day, study for unit tests and eventually midterm and final exams. Feeling overwhelmed, stressed and like she will never be able to conquer it, she pulls her guitar out of her closet and sits down on her bed.

“When I’m feeling stressed, I will sing sometimes and strum a few notes on my guitar,” Rogers said. “I try to piece some different chords together or I’ll make up a catchy little tune and maybe add some words later on that have something to do with what’s going on in my head.”

Self-taught by Youtube, Rogers has been playing the guitar for a year and a half now. Since she’s not a part of any music elective or band at school, music has always been an independent, no-pressure type of activity for her.

“I do anything to get my mind off of what’s bothering me,” Rogers said. “Singing is almost like talking to a friend about an issue, but instead lets me figure it out by myself. Music allows me to escape from the world and reality.”

She engages in this about threes times a week to keep her mood up, which is also about how often senior Kasey Caswell attends yoga class. Due to a busy schedule like most students, she does not get to attend as much as she would like to, but still loves the feeling of relaxation it brings her.

“If I’m doubting myself or doubting anything, I go to yoga, I feel like a whole light lifted from me after the session is over,” Caswell said. “The last pose is always Savasana, and this is the wind down where you just lay there and it’s such a relaxing, calming and meditative state to be in. It brings me back to myself and I always say that yoga brings me back to life if I’m feeling down.”

On top of yoga, Caswell also participates in meditation to help rid herself of any stress she might feel during the day. A combination of these two enlighten her and give her the mental clarity to take on the next task.

“A lot of times I’ll do meditation or yoga and I’ll think of mantras and affirmations while I’m doing it,” Caswell said. “I find myself saying things like, ‘I am love’ and ‘I am beautiful’ and ‘I am strong.’ It’s really empowering, and I think it’s beneficial for anybody who wants to try it.”

Caswell is not the only one who believes in the positive effects of meditation against any stress that may arise. Beginning two years ago, senior Antonio Zayas started meditating every day, and more recently has began to try walking meditation, which he explains as focusing less on where he’s going and more on his breath and the feeling of the ground under his feet.

“Meditation is really just taking back control of your mind. Thoughts are like waves, they come and they go, but it your decision to attach to them,” Zayas said. “Meditating just helps me choose more pleasing thoughts to attach myself to and helps me to do so in day to day life.”

Zayas reminds himself of where he is, how far he has come and the possibilities he can reach to ensure that he is not overwhelmed and always progressing forward with a more calm and relaxed state of mind.

“I feel that it has really opened me up to receive all the blessing the universe has to offer,” Zayas said. “You focus on the positive and pay no mind to the negative because it does nothing for you besides make you feel worse. You start to only see the good in everything.”

In order to minimize stress and have a great time during the four years of high school, it is no wonder that each and every student has found a way to cope. Whether through music, yoga, or meditation, each and every student has a different way to de-stress and keep on moving toward success.