March madness begins to kick in. The pressure on seniors tends to sky rocket in the month of March as time gets limited, applications are being turned in and the requirements of standardized tests having to be completed. The realization sets in. Seniors at GAA face excessive amounts of work that, for most, is unmanageable and stressful. 

Due to the global pandemic the students may have fallen behind with no guidance as to what is required of them. Additionally, the pandemic caused most standardized tests to be delayed. The delay affected the seniors on account of squeezing everything into their already packed schedule. Most seniors were required to take their: emsat, SAT, ielts, and toful. However, the standardized tests require the students to study since most subjects were excluded from the provided school curriculum.  On top of that they are required to begin and finish their college/university application with the deadlines strictly set. Another major issue due to the pandemic is that classes are mainly online and not in person. I would like to highlight the issue of getting a hold of a teacher or administrator turned into a more difficult job. Saoud Alhammadi, a current senior at GAA stated, “Issues with teachers are sometimes not solved because we don’t get replies when we email them; however , when we were in school we went to them during class and it was easier to contact a teacher. Attendance is another issue with the pandemic. I’ve been marked absent a couple of times because teachers didn’t notice me or weren’t able to hear me.” 

In addition to all the pressure, the seniors are required to keep up with their school work and assessments. The load of work began piling up which resulted in affecting the students mental health. Alya Al-Ali, a current senior at GAA said,“The workload took a toll on my mental health. I got constant anxiety this year” The obligations and stress cause students to put a pause on their social life, most of the seniors are hanging on by a thread. The stack of work caused the majority to fall behind and lack time management and organization skills. 

Sacrifices have been made, some students are prioritizing college/university application over their school work. A group of seniors all believe that the school should contribute and help the students prepare for their colleges/universities instead of applying pressure on them with deadlines and school work. “It’s hard to balance uni applications with school work and this makes me prioritize uni applications over some school work” said Saoud Alhammadi, a current senior at GAA. The applications are distracting students from their classes, and they wish that the teachers would have appointed less school work during this complicated and stressful time. Reducing the workload will not only help the seniors with their college/university application but will also extremely benefit the students mental health.