By Quincy Caylor
Valley Voices staff writer
While some are strolling atop crackling leaves and breathing the crisp, autumn air, many college-bound seniors are breathing into crackling paper bags.
With deadlines for college application looming, hyperventilation is a problem.
Early action applications deadlines have already passed for the University of Georgia (Oct. 15). Deadlines for many regional schools are upcoming as well, including the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (both Dec. 1).
High school seniors in and around the Tennessee Valley say they are starting to feel the stress mounting.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself to get into college," said Ally Laband, 17, a senior at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences. "This is the first time my future is really in my hands and not my parents' hands."
Knowing her decisions during senior year will determine her future, Laband is anxious about taking hold of such vital responsibilities by herself.
Other students said they are finding it's best to make requests for assistance to bolster an application as early as possible.
"All the deadlines are so soon," said Niki Legac, 17, a senior at East Hamilton High School, who has applied to four of her 10 chosen schools and hopes to hear back by December. "The teachers don't have time to write recommendations for everyone. There is just so much to do."
Laband applied to five schools this year and was recently accepted to New York's Fordham University, where she plans to study anthropology.
Aside from seeking help from counselors and college-access advisors, Laband and Legac said they have their own methods for stress relief.
Laband said she shelves the worries away.
"I'm doing anything I can to get away from the applications," she said. "I usually hang out with friends to forget for a while."
Legac said exercise is a great, if temporary, stress reliever.
"I feel better when I'm running, but when it's over, the stress from the deadlines comes right back," she said.
On Oct. 25, Dr. Allan Lewis, director of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at Memorial Hospital, gave a presentation to Ooltewah High School's college-bound seniors on the dangers of stress on the arteries and organs and some of the keys to healthy stress relief.
According to Lewis, Legac's method is less temporary than she thinks since exercise is one of the healthiest methods of stress relief.
"The constant muscle contractions caused by being tense gives you neck and shoulder pain," Lewis said. "Exercise turns the contractions into a different type. The stress-caused increases in blood sugar and cholesterol also decrease."
Lewis also discouraged unhealthy, temporary alleviations such as cigarettes and recreational drugs and emphasized the importance of breathing to regulate stress.
"A lot of smokers think what they need is a cigarette," he said. "They take the first long puff, and their hearts immediately drop up to 10 beats per minute.
"The nicotine has not had time to reach them yet; it was the deep breath that they needed. Just allow yourself to calm down, and take a deep breath."
Quincy Caylor is a student at Ooltewah High School.