Stay Healthy, CCA | Derek Li

Stay Healthy, CCA

by Derek Li

Now that we are more than halfway through the school year, the fatigue caused by school has really started to kick in for many students. Yet, as students attending Canyon Crest Academy, one of the top academic schools in the nation, we often ignore the stress and continue studying until we are completely worn out. This is an extremely unhealthy practice, especially for high schoolers. Because suppressing the deeply embedded culture of fierce competition is nearly impossible, here are some tips to make sure you are taking care of your body while still being a great student.

1. Eat properly

Maintaining a good diet in high school is understandably difficult to do. However, eating assorted junk food can hurt your immune system in the long run and cause you to get sick more easily. Getting sick and skipping school is practically like a crime in CCA, so eating healthily is the best way to avoid committing it.

1. Have standard meal times

This is often neglected, especially by those who have busy schedules. Feeding your body at the same times each day is imperative to staying healthy. On the contrary, skipping meals or eating a huge meal at 3 AM is a big no-no.

1. Don’t take long naps

We have all been guilty of going home tired, laying down on the couch, and then waking up five hours later. However, the temptation for taking long naps must be resisted. Naps can often mess with your biological clock, making you feel even sleepier after waking up from them and causing you to be wide awake when it’s actually time to go to bed at night. Taking power naps (for approximately 20-30 minutes) is a healthier option. Of course, the best way to avoid a napping problem is to follow a normal sleeping schedule.

1. Get vaccinated

With the flu being particularly strong and widespread this year, it’s crucial that you make sure you have gotten a shot. It sucks being the person who has to make up finals because you had the flu on the day of it.

1. Exercise regularly

Being a high schooler doesn’t mean you can get away with not exercising without facing consequences to your health. In fact, establishing a good exercise routine right now is much easier than creating a new one as an adult. Exercising helps reduce stress and contributes to your physical and mental well-being.

1. Maintain hygienic practices

This includes the commonly stated habits: washing your hands, drinking a lot of water, not eating expired food, etc. Often, these practices are neglected by students, causing them to get sick more often. The reason these statements are repeated over and over again is because ignoring can easily cause one to get ill.

1. Procrastinate less

We all know that delaying all of our tasks is going to hit us later, yet we still do it. Almost every student is guilty of procrastination; it’s human nature to want to push things back. However, starting your homework at midnight is definitely taking procrastination way too far. Not only does this alter your biological clock, but it ends up augmenting stress levels. In order to procrastinate less, try setting reminders as well as taking regular breaks and rewarding yourself.

1. Sleep, sleep, sleep

Enough said.