5 Tips for Good Mental Health During Exam Season at Boarding School
Your time spent at boarding school can be wonderful and a place where you make many great memories and friends for life. But there can also be times where you get stressed, especially as exam season draws near.
With, what seems to be, hundreds of deadlines at once, having to do presentations (which is the worst for those who hate public speaking), balancing work and social life, struggling with homesickness, and, on top of it all, trying to maintain good physical & mental health can be overwhelming to say the least.
All this stress builds up over time and can leave students at boarding school feeling very anxious, stressed, and depressed.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! Here are 5 great tips that can help you to have good mental health.
- Eat right & Stay Active
One of the great things about boarding school is they will try to make sure that you are eating right and are getting plenty of exercise in the day.
Eating right, and by this we mean getting a well-balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg, can have a huge impact on your mental and physical well-being. Most boarding schools will offer a wide variety of good food that everyone can enjoy. Eating healthy foods provides you with all the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy and keep your mind in top shape!
As well as this, at boarding school they will schedule time in for you to get some exercise during the school day and give you the opportunity to do even more exercise in the form of an after school sport (if you choose). Exercising is a great way to burn off extra energy, relieve stress, and can help to clear your mind and improve emotional resilience.
- Sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep is very beneficial for your mental health. Sleep allows your mind and body to unwind and reset. According to Harvard, when you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more likely to think negatively and be at risk for emotional vulnerability.
Sleep also helps to improve your memory, mental resilience, and to think clearer! So, instead of staying up all night to revise or play games, try to get a good night’s sleep... between 6-8 hours. It’s more likely to help you get a better grade.
- Talk About Your Feelings
Bottling up your emotions never helps. All it does is build up overtime and cause more harm to you. Instead of pushing everything down, talk about your feelings with a loved one or someone you trust, whether this is a therapist, friend, or a wellbeing advisor. Or if you don’t want to talk to someone you know, visit together all for free online support.
Talking about what is making you feel stressed, anxious, or depressed can help to alleviate any heavy weight they bring and help give clarity to the situation. This can be anything from worries about coursework and exam deadlines to relationship issues or anything else.
- Relax and Take Breaks
When deadlines and exam seasons come up, some students forget to just relax and take breaks. It can be quite easy to overwork yourself and cause a lot of stress. But this isn’t good for your mental health.
It’s vital for you to take time between school work to relax and have a break. This could be anything from relaxing alone in your room enjoying a movie or going out for a walk to spending quality time with friends doing some fun activities or joining a club… anything you enjoy and helps you relax!
Not only will this benefit your mental health, but it also gives your mind time to relax and recover which in the long run will help your memory and ability to understand study material better.
Have Fun!
Life isn’t just coursework, revision and deadlines. Boarding school is the time to make some amazing memories! Go out and have fun with some friends, go on adventures, join a club and have fun.
If you spend too much working and revising, certain issues can seem bigger than what they actually are. By taking a step back to see the real world, by having fun with friends and enjoying life, you’ll see those issues for what they really are… which most of the time is quite small and easily managed.
You may even find that your friends can help give you a different insight and tips to help with issues you're struggling with!
So, remember to enjoy your time at boarding school. You won’t be there forever, so make the most of it!
We hope these tips have helped you! And remember, you are not alone. Lots of students deal with mental health issues, which is why we need to be helping one another. Sometimes, just knowing you are not the only one feeling this way can help.
If you are struggling with mental health issues, here are some places that help:
Contact your University wellbeing team
