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| ‘Stress’ all too common
for college students |
Carrie Baker
Business Affairs Beat
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Does this sound familiar?
I have class at 8 a.m. and a paper due at 9:30 a.m. Then I’m
going to meet so and so and go to the gym, and after that I need
to do some research at the library. And later I’m meeting my
group for that project, and I need to pick up my roommate from class
around 4 p.m. Then I have a meeting at 4:30 p.m., and I should probably
start on that paper. Oh and then I will be back at home, and I need
to clean up some because so and so is coming over tomorrow. And
I guess I should do my laundry too.
But yeah, I can work in food/sleep sometime if I have to.
Stress can be a serious issue for college students. OK, forget “can
be.” Stress is a serious issue for college students.
Students often have full schedules, like the one above. This accumulation
of “things to do” can make any person’s head spin
(and probably ache).
For the stretched-thin college student, that list of priorities
often leaves one serious prerogative completely forgotten.
Somewhere between class, studying, parties, roommates, friends,
boyfriends, girlfriends, exams, projects, papers, clubs and other
obligations comes you.
Somewhere around you is where most college students start to neglect
some important things.
When you lose yourself in the middle of all those plans and obligations,
you tend to neglect yourself.
This oversight of self needs usually results in a lack of two things:
sleep and food.
Sleeping and eating may seem less important than studying for that
mid-term exam or even going out with friends, but a lack of both
is just what can trigger your body to start stressing.
If your body does not have a balance of proper sleep and nutrition
then it cannot function suitably. The result is usually one of those
colds or other “bugs” that students seem to have constantly
on this campus.
Once you are sick, you cannot do much of anything well, so even
more stress results.
Somewhere in that busy schedule, you should also make time for yourself,
not only to eat and sleep, but also to do something you enjoy, something
just for you.
If your schedule is too full of things and plans for other people,
then you are not making yourself happy. And if you are not happy,
then you are going to be stressed.
Try to fit in something that you like to do. Run, paint, read, play
music, go shopping, dance around in the middle of your room or whatever
else makes you just a little happier to be alive.
However, be careful with the balance of activities planned for yourself
or otherwise. This can cause stress too.
Students tend to misallocate their time and energies.
And why not?
It’s an easy thing to do when you are surrounded by the constant
buzz of activities and demands that a college campus provides.
College offers a number of activities whether it be entertainment,
new friends and even new learning possibilities offered by classes.
All of these things put a heavy demand on a student’s time.
But when time is delegated to too many different activities or misspent
(e.g. watching reruns of Trading Spaces instead of getting a start
on that 10-page paper) then stress is the inevitable result.
College can be overwhelming to say the least, but certainly livable.
Once a student knows how to plan their time and not spend it doing
too much of one thing and not enough of another, they can reduce
stress.
At the beginning of the week, look and see what you have to do.
What are your obligations? When can you fit in some time for yourself?
Make sure eating and sleeping makes it in there too.
So plan ahead and see how things go. They probably will not run
smoothly. Plans almost never go just the way you intended.
Instead of stressing out too much, try to be positive. So things
are not perfect, but they could be worse.
Basically, stress is going to happen at some point. It is all about
how you deal with it and how you prepare for it and what preventative
steps you take.
Just be positive. And if it helps, remember: Next week is spring
break. |
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