As the first semester of my senior year draws to a close, I find myself reminiscing on all that has occurred so far. It’s surreal to consider that I only have one more semester of high school left, and after that, I’ll be leaving childhood friends behind to begin the next chapter of my life.

So far, senior year has felt like a whirlwind. People always told me that junior year was the hardest of all four years because of testing and tougher classes, but the difficulty of senior year should not be underestimated. As someone who is applying to 11 colleges, I can personally confirm that senior year has proven to be much more demanding than most people give it credit for.

While most colleges primarily look at the course load of an applicant during their junior year, the classes a student takes senior year are still of utmost importance. As a senior, I am currently taking 5 AP classes. Balancing a rigorous schedule with extracurriculars, college applications, and the hunt for scholarships is a lot to handle, and I fear that I am missing out on enjoying my senior year due to unnecessary stress.

Between hectic sleep schedules and less time for homework because of college applications, it is more common than ever to witness a senior experience extreme levels of stress. Is the unsurmountable stress of senior year really worth its limited benefits?

Yes, getting into college and maintaining good grades should definitely be top priorities for all students, but at what point should we draw a line?

A study from the American Psychological Association in 2014 showed that nearly 49 percent of a group of 128 high school students reported feeling a great deal of stress on a daily basis, while 31 percent reported feeling somewhat stressed.

Furthermore, a study done by a team of scientists from the New York University College of Nursing in 2015 analyzed the levels of stress seen by high school seniors and the impact these levels can have on a student’s mental health. According to NYU, two thirds of students reported turning to substances, such as alcohol and marijuana, to ease their stress.

Other research from NYU has shown that these habits of substance abuse have a tendency to linger into adulthood and can contribute to mental problems, like depression and anxiety, as well. In addition, stress has also been known to increase the risk for physical health complications, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and even strokes.

The negative effects of stress have more to do with just your health, however. Too much stress can also lead to poorer performance in the classroom. According to HealthNews, a website dedicated to publishing articles on various aspects of human health, students who reported eight or more sources of stress averaged a GPA of 2.72, while those with no significant sources of stress averaged a GPA of 3.3.

Seniors should be able to enjoy their final moments of high school without having to worry about whether or not they are at risk for serious mental problems or decreased academic performance. Teachers should help alleviate this stress by going easy on their senior students during first semester and by offering ample time for tutorials. Seniors themselves can plan out the college process further in advance to ensure they aren’t swamped with work when applications are due come January. High school consists of some of the most memorable years of our lives, and we shouldn’t be forced to compromise our experience because of unwanted stress.