Solar shares his experience with Lunar, speaking of academic stress and pressure, that is one of common problems that students would probably encounter.
Solar: What is academic stress to students? This question is worth of reflection to each educator who assigns them heavy coursework on the one hand, and who helps them to lighten academic stress on the other hand.
Lunar concerns academic stress to students, and wonders these questions. What is academic stress to students? If this academic stress is proper, can it forge students? If this academic stress is heavy, can it destroy students?
Lunar: What is academic stress to students?
Solar: To answer this question, we should know about where is this academic stress from first? It is from teacher, who assigns students heavy coursework, it is from school that sets looming deadlines, and it is from family who hold on high expectations.
Lunar: Heavy coursework, looming deadlines and high expectations pile up, leaving students academic stress. If this academic stress is proper, it can forge students. If this academic stress is too heavy for them, it can destroy students.
Solar: A diamond is a chunk of coal that did under pressure. So we encourage students to hold on, until they have their moments to shine. However, most of students who committed suicide at school, are out of academic stress. So we have to guide students to handle with academic stress, and help them to lighten it.
Lunar: What did you recommend them to handle with academic stress?
Solar: Three methods to handle with academic stress are time management, breaking down assignment and seeking support.
Lunar: Time management?
Solar: Work 25 minutes bursts, take 5 minutes breaks, it prevents pressure piling up. Sort out urgency and priority, it ensures the critical assignments to get attention first.
Lunar: Breaking down assignment?
Solar: The huge assignment can be divided into several small assignments. It's a way to reduce academic stress by reducing the seize of huge assignment.
Lunar: Seeking support?
Solar: If they have difficulties on study, they can seek support from AI study assistants, teachers and study groups. If they want to be understood, they can talk to their tutors.
Lunar: It's helpful for students to handle with academic stress, but it seems that their academic stress is still too heavy for them.
Solar: The strongest steel is born from the hottest fire. We encourage students to be the strongest steel, what doesn't break them, only makes them stronger. It seems that is the only one thing I was allowed to do. Neither I could assign them less coursework, nor I could change their looming deadlines or family's expectations.
Lunar: How did you encourage them to be the strongest steel?
Solar: When I stood in front of them at teaching platform, through the windows of eyes, I looked upon their eyes untainted from contamination, with empathy and compassion, asking of how many of you have ever felt the weight pressing down on your shoulders?
Lunar: How many of them have ever felt the weight pressing down on their shoulders?
Solar: Wow, all of them!
Lunar: You assigned them an essay about pressure, didn't you?
Solar: Yes. Yes, I did.
Lunar: What kind of essay was it?
Solar: I assigned them an essay about what do you know about your academic stress? Ask yourself how heavy is your coursework? How tight is your deadline? What is your own expectation? What is your family's expectation?
Lunar: May you please tell me some of your students' works?
Solar: My study hours is from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. in every schoolday. My sleep hours is less than 6 hours in everyday. I have self-study hours in the evening, it's time to finish my coursework of six subjects. I have one week to do two-week coursework, and sometimes I have to skip eating or sleeping. I want to be a writer, but my parents say journalist. I want to be an actor, but my parents say TV caster. I want to be a poet, but my parents say they won't support me to do these hopeless hobbies. Mr Pressure.
Lunar: Mr Pressure?
Solar: Mr Pressure is the most stressful one among them. Taking six subjects in a day is like taking six jobs in a day. It would be hard to find out six more hours for sleeping, and there's no time to do anything else at all.
Lunar: They all are taking six subjects, aren't they?
Solar: They all are taking six subjects, but some of them are throwing time on studying, while the rest of them are getting distracted by something else.
Lunar: Mr Pressure did extract some spare time for his hobbies, didn't he?
Solar: Yes.
Lunar: What did he want to do with his precious spare time?
Solar: Composing epic verse or typing romantic chapter.
Lunar: The next essay, please!
Solar: My coursework is piling up like a hill, that's high enough to block my view from the black board. My deadline is ticking like a morning alarm, that often wakes me up at 4:00 before sunrise. I wake up earlier than the sun, and rest later than the last lamp of the whole community. Because I want to be a part of high society circle in downtown, but I'm just a girl from a small town. My parents expect me to be a flying bird, to fly out of continuous mountains, and to fly further as far as I can. Flying Bird.
Lunar: Flying Bird?
Solar: Flying Bird is an ambitious, excellent, diligent woman. She spends 12 hours on study, 4 hours on noble manners, and 2 hours on livestream. She is almost as diligent as Mr Pressure on study, and in additional of that she is also a host spending 2 hours on livestream for attracting audiences and earning coins.
Lunar: She was only livestreaming for 2 hours, wasn't she?
Solar: Yes.
Lunar: How much did she earn?
Solar: One million dollars a year. It's about 2740 dollars two hours.
Lunar: How could she earn so much with only 2 hours?
Solar: She just spends 2 hours on livestream, but she spends the most of time on her self-education and the rest of time on rest.