Everyone experiences difficulties in life, but the coping mechanisms used to get through tough times differ from person to person. Antioch Community High School students and staff live through struggles of their own.
While trying to maintain a work/life balance, losing a loved one is an event that may be difficult to deal with. A death in the family is a traumatic experience for people of any age. Sophomore Ravyn Edran went through the passing of her grandfather during middle school and wasn’t able to be present at the ceremonies.
“The only way we could cope was through prayer,” Edran said. “We prayed to God for his safety.”
Edran dealt with her loss through family and prayer. Edran and her family were able to grieve together, but the balance between her home and school life shifted because of the time she needed to grieve.
“I got closer with my family, but I also distanced myself from other people,” Edran said. “It wasn’t their fault, but they couldn’t understand what I was going through.”
Loss is a tragic yet common part of life and students must deal with many challenges in their formative years. Moving to a different country is not as tragic of a change, but can still bring challenge into a student’s life. Adjusting to life while moving from America to India was a struggle that required adaptation, resilience and a strong support system for senior Maya Schon.
“I was in shock for a while,” Schon said. “It was definitely not easy going [to India] and leaving all my friends and everything I knew.”
Adolescents may be distressed when experiencing challenges in their lives, but hardships are not just age exclusive. Psychology teacher Anton Borchert had to cope with his mother dealing with cancer.
“It was by far the most challenging situation I’ve gone through because it was ongoing,” Borchert said.
The uncertainty of treatments may be emotionally exhausting and the path to accepting a close family member’s passing may differ depending on the person’s coping mechanisms.
“I do not depend on others to fix my problem,” Borchert said. “I just absorb their personality in the time I have with them so when I go back to being on my own, I have balanced out the positive and negative.”
Change does not always end badly, but everyone seems to struggle with the challenges that accompany change. Whether dealing with loss or moving to a new place, hardships that people face reveal their methods of coping.
