Repressed by stress

By Thien N

As an 11th grader at Yerba Buena High school, Paula Velazquez struggles with her education and finds that she isn’t always capable of finishing her assignments and having the motivation, but is pushing for a change.

Attending school is stressful and puts an enormous amount of pressure on her. Due to this, she forms a negative cloud in her head and lacks the motivation to continue her education. It is difficult for her to find motivation because of the emotions she goes through.

With the support of music, games, soccer, and friends, Velazquez uses it as a source of motivation to suppress the negative thoughts and instead, enlighten her mood and fight against what is bothering her.

Having goals and inspirations help build her mindset and gain a clearer view of ways she can push out of the stress. “The type of mindset I put on myself is definitely being hard on myself. If it's like I'm telling myself I'm not capable of doing something but in reality, if I can push myself, I will,” Paula Velazquez said. As seen in this quote from Velazquez, she sees that if she can push herself to her limits, it'd be necessary to put in effort to try.

School being a heavy rock that drags her down everyday, Velazquez tries her best to keep her head up and make progress; “I think I'm capable, it's just the mentality that I have that will prevent me from striving hard to make it where I want.” Her response tells us that she is a diligent student and also tells us she overthinks pretty often.

Velazquez mentioned “staying focused and being able to find motivation” is what makes it hard for her in school. It is difficult being attentive in school when she feels as if it would be better being somewhere else instead of learning.

With the stress she goes through, she carries it home and due to that, her parents also deal with it. “To them I really feel like I owe everything because I see them working hard and being tired, and there is just me.” Seeing her parents work hard every single day to survive, and her just being there and feeling as if she contributes to nothing in the family, she feels like something is missing.

Velazquez wants to grow in this and find ways she can show gratitude and appreciation towards her family and strengthen her mindset.

From this interview, we can learn to push through our limits, give things a try, and persevere even when you hit rock bottom.