The Secrets of The Sighted (Golden Trio Era) {3}

Politics with Jordan & Black

"Merlin I love that song, McBride really outdone himself this time, and I just wanted to congratulate him and his wife, Gloria, on the birth of their first baby. They had a little girl by the name of Lola Grace McBride, who was born in the early hours of this morning. So, here's a song to celebrate the McBride family's new addition, I have a very special song to play. Due to wizarding radio being unable to broadcast Muggle music for some unknown reason, I gathered some of my friends from the Hogwarts Elites to do a cover of my favourite Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros song. Listeners, this is... Home!"

(Rachel: Ginny, Kurt: Brian, Santana: Padma, Brittney: Daphne, Tina: Cho, Artie: Eddie, Quinn: Hannah, Puck: Wayne, Mason: Brian, Madison: Mikayla, Spencer: Darren, Jane: Megan, Roderick: Marcus)

As the song started, Penelope walked through the door and was silently instructed what to do during the interview and, with the help of Maggie, got set up in the interviewee space. Mikayla sent the older woman a gentle smile as she was too busy strategising how she was going to put Gawain Robards in his place. Penelope seemed to understand that Mikayla was pre-occupied as she took in the recording studio as well as settling her notebook with her key points on the desk in front of her. Lee gestures to Mikayla to introduce Penelope, and the blonde smiles gently at him to let him know she's not mad at him but Hawthorn. So as the song came to an end, Mikayla slowly made the instrument fade out before leaning closer to her mic.

"Our first guest today is the woman who has regularly came to tutor me for my N.E.W.Ts. She, alongside the Hogwarts professors, has helped me in acquiring the knowledge that I'll need to do well in my N.E.W.Ts. So let's give the warmest welcome to the brilliantly beautiful and bright, Penelope Marshbanks!!!" Everyone in the room cheered and clapped to celebrate Penelope's presence, making the older girl blush madly, before she too leaned towards her mic. "It's great to be here, thank you both for having me." She smiled, and Lee chipped in thanking Penelope for coming on their show.

"So, Penelope, why don't you tell our listeners why you're here today." Lee prompts her, and Penelope folds her hands in front of herself it was obvious that she was a bit nervous. "I've come to discuss how the O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts affect the mental health of our teenagers, and what we as a society can do to change that, as well as give our stressed students some advice in how to deal with the stress that they're under during exam season." Penelope listed out in a strong collected voice that did not vocalise her nerves. "Let me just grab a notebook, as I'm gonna need all the help I can get for the next two weeks." Mikayla admits making both Penelope and Lee laugh while Lee declares to the audience that Mikayla truly did pull out a notebook while Mikayla was doing so.

Lee then suggested that they should describe what the O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts are for their listeners that may not of heard of them. Which Mikayla gestured to Penelope to do as she wanted to involve their guests as much as possible, "well the Ordinary Wizarding Levels and the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests are administered in the fifth and seventh years to Hogwarts students, there are some special cases, such as Mikayla's, where a student can take their N.E.W.Ts a year early if they decide that is what is best for them or if they aren't being challenged enough in school." Penelope explains slightly before nodding to Mikayla to continue her tutors train of thought. "Right, and your O.W.Ls grades will decide what N.E.W.T subjects you can take, while your N.E.W.Ts grade determines what jobs students can apply for and hold as adults."

"Exactly! Which means that technically you need to know at the age of fifteen or sixteen what you want to do for a job for the rest of your life, so you can get good O.W.Ls results to continue the subjects you need N.E.W.Ts in for your chosen career." Penelope states as if it's the most bizarre thing ever, "not to mention all the stress that you're under can make you panic and answer questions that you know the answers to wrong." Lee points out and neither of the women disagreed with him.

"Which is how the examinations can trigger many health issues. For most students anxiety is the chief issue, with a record of 71% of our young wizards between the ages of fifteen to eighteen being diagnosed with anxiety." Penelope threw out the figure with a sense of distain in her voice that made it clear that this figure truly worried her. "Yeah, I've always kinda had anxiety, in the form of intrusive thoughts when I was younger, but during exam years my Anxietas attacks have happened more frequently and lasting longer." Mikayla commented to show that she could in fact relate to the 71% of students.

"Yes, while your Anxietas attacks were an after effect of your survival of the killing curse back in the summer of 1995. They are triggered by overwhelming stress, which is why they are worse coming towards your biggest educational hurdle." Penelope responded as she knew that people would try to disprove that the exams have anything to do with Mikayla's Anxietas attacks. "What's the other health issues that are common for exam students?" Lee asks trying to move the conversation along. "Well, 47% of students gain weight from overindulging in comfort food, 45% of students suffer from insomnia, while 28% suffer from stress-induced depression and finally 15% of students lost weight from both stress and missing meals trying to study."

It wasn't long before Penelope's interview was coming to an end, and she did have some amazing advice to deal with stress. Mikayla had in fact took notes which read;

Deep breathing
Take a deep breath. Hold it. Let it out... slowly. Try counting to 10 as you let out your breath. Feel the tension and stress flowing out of you with your breath. Repeat 3-10 times, as necessary.

Take a walk
Try walking outside for 20-30 minutes several times per week to alleviate stress and give your mind a boost. Walking boosts stress-busting endorphins. Brisk walking boosts endorphins, which can reduce stress hormones and alleviate mild depression.

Get outdoors
Linking with walking, getting some fresh air and spending time in nature has been linked to stress reduction and also improved memory and attention. It's good to disconnect from the outside world and clear your head.

Read
It can relax your body by lowering your heart rate and easing the tension in your muscles. Reading can reduce stress by up to 68%. It also works better and faster than many other stress reducing techniques.

Meditate
Sit somewhere quiet, close your eyes, relax, and focus on your breathing. When things pop into your head, just acknowledge them and allow them to leave, and then focus again on your breathing. Do this for as long as you can, and then take a couple of cleansing breaths, and get up a new person.

Laugh
Hang out with friends and family, try pranks etc

Nap
Taking only a 20-30 minute nap can reduce the amount of stress hormones in the body as well as improving your focus and emotional stability.

Exercise
Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits. It pumps up your endorphins. Physical activity helps bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins.

Music
Chill out and listen to your favourite music, write your own music. Playing calm music has a positive effect on the brain and body, can lower blood pressure, and reduce cortisol, a hormone linked to stress.

Good diet
Swap the comfort foods for fruits and vegetables, also fish with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce symptoms of stress.

"Thank you once again to Penelope for coming in and chatting with us," Lee beamed at the woman, who thanked the pair once again for having her on, "and now were going to have a commercial break. Tune back in to listen to our live interview with Head Auror, Gawain Robards, and to hear some great music before our hour special of answering your questions."