High school students are likely to stress about some pretty big stuff. Even aside from classes and romance, as graduation and college prep approaches, there is one big question that tends to give you the chills like a bad flu: where is your life going to take you from here? It is such a wide-spread anxiety, and yet, not everyone thinks to look around for guides or solutions. Here are some books that I wish I had considered when I was still in high-school. As a bonus, try to read them in order as you begin a journey to destress and focus on the big stuff in life in a more productive way.
Teenage Guide to Stress by Nicola Morgan
As a teenager, I personally hated books aimed toward teenagers. I often felt condescended to, but other books at time felt stiff or inaccessible. Nicola Morgan’s book is something that I truly wish had been available to me at the time, because it isn’t softened to talk to teens, it simply talks to its audience about issues particularly relevant to them on a level that makes sense. This book will help you feel less alone in problems that are specific to the unique world that emerges from the rules and trappings of school life and the social world that it propagates. Help in your relationships, exam anxieties, and home life are addressed in this grounded but empathic book by Nicola Morgan.
The 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make: A Guide for Teens by Sean Covey
This serves as a good companion to The Teenage Guide to Stress in that it back up its assertions with statistics and expert opinions. Relatable stories from each of the main topics covered in the books- including dating, self-worth, friendship, and your relationship with your parents. Even addiction is addressed in this book so that readers can confront realistic problems that they might have to face and feel ready to make the right decision for themselves. Taking your decisions into your own hands is something this books advocates in a practical, immediate way.
52 Cups of Coffee by Megan Gebhart
The Author of the book is a relatable, inspirational individual. Her blog provides a quote that serves as one of the most clear guiding forces of her project: “Who you are in five years depends upon the books you read and the people you meet.” After an enviable voyage spent chatting with an astounding variety of people, she has published the insights on career and lifestyles gained upon this journey in a book that makes you hungry to learn more about the pursuit of life, passion, and meaning. This is a great book to get you to contemplate how you should move forward in life- and what people you should take inspiration from. Make this one of the books you read in the next five years and see if it encourages you into a direction you might not have considered before.
The Crossroads of Should and Must: Find and Follow Your Passion by Elle Luna
Now that you’re nice and inspired to follow your heart and figure out some sort of clarity, you might have the (understandably) stressful task of figuring out how to move forward with that. Well, I have great news! There is an author that has already approached this process and created a very accessible books with exercises to explore this journey with a resonant structure of The Hero’s Journey. If you want to feel invigorated about your future and the choices you’ll be making as you push forward, this is the book you should save for last in this reading spree so that you can make the best choices possible moving forward- not just in post-high school education, but for your life.
For more blogs about how to overcome school related anxieties in particular, check out these other posts about math and test-taking!
Links:
http://victorypreptutors.com/blog/math-person/
http://victorypreptutors.com/blog/test-anxiety-2/
http://victorypreptutors.com/blog/test-anxiety/
Victory Step Education Team
