Cry For Help

 The big picture of this movie is that many students are suffering from depression and the intense depression leads to suicides at a teen age. Personally, I think it is a serious issue and everyone deserves to be happy when he or she is a teenager, and therefore surrounding people should be aware and be conscious of depressing-looking people. There is a "Take program" mentioned in DVD and I think it is a good program since it takes care of students before they think of suicides. And also the counseling programs in those schools showed how they gathered students around and made them share their stories and make sure they feel there are people who can help or are the same as them. I think it will be effective in ISKL if there are students who feel depressed, because it is beneficial in a way that it prevents students from making any inappropriate decisions. Even though all the students look really happy and look like enjoying their lives to me in our school, it is possible that they are concealing their real feelings just to themselves just like DVD mentioned. So I think the counseling program in both school and online as shown in DVD will be beneficial at ISKL. Furthermore, it will be beneficial in Ampang or whole Malaysia since it can take care of all the students not only in ISKL.

Students' Stress

<Article Info>

-Title: State Board Oblivious to Stress in Students

-Author: Manasi Saraf Joshi
-Source: Internet (Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_state-board-oblivious-to-stress-in-students_1647453)

-Date: Feb.08.2012

As Chaitanya Kher, a SSC student of Abhinava Vidyalaya was getting ready to attend the farewell function in his school, he was under stress due to Higher Order Thinking Syllabus (HOTS) pattern in the SSC examination.

Hence, he is spending sleepless nights and cannot concentrate. This has made him even more worried about his future. “I guess I need some help so that I can concentrate on my studies and score good marks. But I don’t know where to get help from,’’ he said.

Like Chaitanya, there are many students who are under stress even before the examination has begun. But Maharashtra State Board of Higher Secondary and Secondary Education seems to be oblivious to the fact. The state board, which for last two years, started its helplines in the first week of February, has decided that this year, its helplines will become operational only a few days before the examination.

The SSC examination begins from March 1. At present, only a private helpline managed by Supermind Prakshan is functioning. The helpline is getting a flood of calls from many students. “On an average, we get seven to eight calls from the students regarding stress and the change in examination pattern,’’ said director Vaishali Keskar.

She said, “We launched the helpline last year. We received calls from students regarding lack of concentration, depression and frustration. But this year, we are getting calls regarding changes in the examination pattern and especially, on Higher Order Thinking Syllabus (HOTS), essays, grammar and difficult sections in science and mathematics.’’

But state board secretary Shahji Dekhane said, “The helplines for board students are operated by divisional boards. They will be operational a couple of days before the examination. We will not interfere in the matter."

Two years ago, the then state board chairperson Vijaysheela Sardesai had taken the initiative to start the helpline as the state was rocked by suicides of many students.

<Summary>

Many Students are suffering from extreme stress before and during the exam in SSC. This stress even led to the suicides of numerous students. However, Maharashtra State Board of Higher Secondary and Secondary Education is oblivious to this fact and is not doing anything specifically helpful for the students who are stressed, but the helplines. Those helplines in fact is only available only a couple of days before the examination, and thus is not very useful.

<Big Meaning>

This shows the community's social problem as the board that is supposed to be in charge of the students is not helping the students to not get stress from examinations. In addition, this does not only refer to the SSC exam but the general exams in our world. Most of the students gain immeasurable stress from the exams but the schools are not actually doing anything about it as they want to "leave" it to students. More effective counseling than helplines is needed in all the schools, and the education should be promoted in a way that students enjoy, instead of something that they are scared of and want to keep distance from. However, it is indubitable that it has already become a general fact in the world that the exam gives students a lot of stress and that is one of the causes of suicides.   

<Personal Meaning>

This article and its message impact me personally because I also agree with this article as my stress increases significantly before the exam. I have a pressure to do well and do the best I can and thus I understand those students getting stress from SSC exam. I chose this article because I knew that stress that comes from being a student and acting out students' duties can be very significant to you. However, my stress has never been that intense as an issue and topic discussed in this article. Still, I want to improve myself even more by trying to be more positive and just enjoy a student's life.

Reflection

a. Reflect on the activity results that you just completed. How did your own stress levels related to the hierarchical position match up with what the video said? Do you agree that your position in a hierarchy has an inverse relationship to stress levels?

b.

My hierarchy groups
1. Family member
2. ISKL
3. Friends
4. Cross Country team
5. Extended family (mom's side)

Lowest: ISKL as a student
Highest: Extended family (mom's side) as an oldest child

I feel more stressed as a student in ISKL (lowest), so I agree with what the video said. I have more things required to do commanded by higher statuses (teachers) with tests and everything, so I feel more stressed. But it's not like I'm not stressed at all in the extended family group where I have the highest status, because I feel the responsibility and to take care of younger cousins. For example, I bought each one of them a Christmas present with my own money and caused a bit of stress in terms of choice.

b. Use the following terms in an analysis/reflection. Go any direction you want with it. a. Decision making, self esteem, wellness
 I learned how decision making must be done by myself so that I am the responsible one for it, and thus I will get higher self esteem since I know what I am doing and it is likely that I am doing what I want to do or what I think is important to do. In addition, it can be said that one's wellness is determined by the efficiency of own decision making. Therefore it is important to pursue my own decision making in order to have a higher self esteem and better wellness.

GOAL

1.Select one goal to work toward.
2.List what you will do to reach this goal.
3.Identify others who can help you and support your efforts.
4.Give yourself a specific period of time to reach your goal.
5.Build in checkpoints to evaluate how you are doing.
6.Give yourself a reward once you’ve achieved the goal.

1. The area or I would like to change or improve is:
GPA: Above 4.1

2. Pick a primary goal in your lifestyle within the above mentioned Wellness Wheel
area that you want to work on achieving.
Intellectual

3. What health benefits would you receive if you made a change in this area?
I will be more relaxed for my future and have more balanced life, knowing how to control it.

4. What difficulties might make achieving this goal a challenge?
Tendency to sleep instead of studying
Tendency to reactivate Facebook
Tendency to leave the work until the last minute

5. The people you will ask for support and assistance are:
Teachers
In what way will they help you?


They will answer to all of my questions and make sure I understand everything to achieve a better grade.

6. Three specific steps involved in making this change/improvement are (be specific)
a. Not leaving the homework until the last minute
b. Doing reviews every day
c. Not reactivating Facebook

7. How will you record of your progress?
I will check my grades and be aware of how well I understand each class's materials

8. Date you will start / have started:
Today

9. Date you are going to complete:
June 5

10. Reward for completion (should be appropriate):
Shopping with the money I will have saved

Self Esteem Self Assessment

• Is the source a good source of information?

It is a good source of information. I think it's the most accurate self esteem assessment that I have done. 

• How accurate do you think the results are?

I think it was quite accurate and described me pretty well.  

• In what circumstances might results be invalid?

The results might be invalid in a sense that one's mood of the day can affect the attitude toward the test and thus the result.

• Are these types of online sites good to have available? Why/Why not?

Yes, because it can actually inform individuals about their self esteems and they will actually try to improve their self esteem or have a somewhat different perception toward their life after doing the test and analyzing the result. 

Interviewing a Healthy Person

What is his/her relationship to you?
My mom
1. Have you always been as healthy as you are now? Please explain.
No, not really. I've started to try to be healthy after I gave birth to Davin. When I was young, I did not know the significance of being healthy, and I suddenly gained too much weight and had frequent headache after I gave birth to her, so I started to exercise to keep my health.
2. What particular health habits in the following areas do you practice, that contribute to your level of health?

Nutritional Habits: I make sure I eat three meals a day at an appropriate time, and I rarely eat junk food. I like to eat fruits.

Fitness Habits: I go to the gym and work out three days a week, one hour per each day, and I play golf once a week in the field. I go to driving range two times a week. I also like to go jogging occasionally. 

Coping with Stress: I try to relax and go exercise. 

Dealing with Conflicts: I first believe for sure that it will be solved well and I overcome them one by one from the easiest one.

Keeping a Positive Attitude: I am always positive, and I smile a lot. I am always grateful that people surrounding me are all really nice.

Any Additional Healthy Habits: As I am more aged now, I'm eating supplementary vitamins to keep my health. I also drink water a lot, and eat red ginseng often. 
3. How did you develop these habits? Please explain.
I don't know specifically. I think it came from me loving myself and trying to look at the "better side" of all the things.
4. What motivates you to practice a healthy lifestyle?
My healthy two daughters and my husband who always loves me. 
5. Create a question of your own that you would like to ask regarding this person’s healthy lifestyle. Make sure that the question allows your interview to expand on his/her thoughts (not a one word answer).
Question: What do you think is the most important habit to have for a good health?

Answer: POSITIVE MIND!!

How Healthy am I?

Physical: 9
I exercise regularly to keep myself fit and Cross Country in the first semester helped me to establish a habit of jogging or just doing any exercise to make sure I'm in a physically healthy state.

Intellectual: 7
I read quite a lot these days before I go to sleep. I also TRY to study more than the school work. But I think I need to do much more.

Occupational: 7
As a student, I'm trying to study hard and get good grades but it has only been three days of school in the  so I didn't have that much work to score my academic state. And my GPA last semester was not satisfactory, so I'll give myself 7. Also I think I need to spend more time in APUS.

Emotional: 10
I'm always positive and try to think of a better side of the situation. So I'm always happy!

Spiritual: 10
I don't have any religion that I specifically believe in because I don't really know about the existence of god. But I still think my spiritual score is 10 because my own belief itself is strong and I'm spirited in that way! :D

Social: 10
I always try to approach to new people and be social with everyone. Also I'm in a good state with my best friends both in Malaysia and Korea.