How To Deal With Stress at College:
You want to know what I don’t get? People who say that college is the time where you’re the most carefree and have the least amount of responsibilities. Older adults will say that once we hit the real world, reality will strike us and then we will know how it REALLY feels to be stressed out all the time. So you’re basically telling us that we’re stressing out at college so we can be more stressed out later in life? No, thank you. College is well worth it, but between the pressures of keeping up that GPA, joining a plethora of clubs to fill up that resume, doing all the readings for class the next day so you don’t sound like an idiot, sharing common bathrooms with toilets that don’t work and eating burnt vegetables at the dining hall every other day, we have a lot to be stressed about. Here are some tips on how to combat the beast that is stress.
Make sure that you’re enjoying your major.
Last year, I felt trapped in my major. I was starting to lose my love of education and was wondering what the purpose of me going to college was. I didn’t know what else I could be good at and majoring in something that I loved, but didn’t have as good of job/income prospects terrified me. However, it was when I took personal essay the spring semester of sophomore year that I realized how much I loved writing and wanted to write for the rest of my life. College is stressful enough as it is but it’s going to be even more stressful if you’re doing something that feels like homework to you every time you sit down at your desk. If you’re feeling stuck in your major, you can utilize resources on campus such as academic and career services. They have expertise in helping people find their path in life and can help steer you in the right direction.
Take Advantage of Technology, But Be Mindful of It
When you’re stressed out, technology is your best friend. Stress can often make you feel disconnected from the world and as a result, you start to isolate yourself from everybody. While this is okay for a little while, being stuck inside your own head can cultivate more stress. Utilize technology to Skype or FaceTime with family and friends from back home. Pull out that phone and text your troubles away to your best friends. Talking with friends and family that are not in your college interweb can help you put things in perspective. With that being said, it is important to unwind from technology. Sometimes too much technology can make us feel stressed and disconnected. Disconnecting from social media is especially important. When people post on social media, they post the best version of their lives. Therefore, it is easy to become jealous and think that all the people you’re following have it together. However, it’s just an image being cultivated and it’s important to keep that in mind. Instead of scrolling through social media, have a conversation with a friend without the cell phone in front of you. Read a light-hearted book. Go for a walk in nature. When you’re stressed out, it’s important to live in the present and not worry about what’s coming up in terms of your academic, social, or extracurricular life. Technology, I find, puts us in a futuristic mindset. When I’m stressed out, it’s nice for me to just walk around campus, look at Lake Cayuga, and forget about it.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a great tool in monitoring our stress and how we’re feeling in the moment. We get so caught up in the future and the past, that we forget to live in the now. That’s why guided meditations are so helpful. Not only do they focus on deep breathing, but they give you positive visualizations to help put everything into perspective and realize that what you’re getting caught up in, is actually a much smaller problem than it appears. Meditation has also been shown not just to calm you down, but actually increase grey matter in the brain. Neuroscientist Sara Lazar at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School found, “We found long-term meditators have an increased amount of gray matter in the insula and sensory regions, the auditory and sensory cortex. …When you’re mindful, you’re paying attention to your breathing, to sounds, to the present moment experience, and shutting cognition down.” Yoga is also helpful to do, because not only is it exercise, but has mental health benefits. According to the Huffington Post article, The New Science on the Health Benefits of Yoga, yoga has been clinically proven to reduce stress and anxiety. “…A new report presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) Conference 2015 in April linked yoga to lowering levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, especially in women at risk for mental health problems.” Yoga is also a form of active meditation, which means that you’re not only letting things go, but you’re also doing something too. You know when you’re doing cartwheels on the lawn or throwing basketballs for fun, you’re not really thinking about anything else, you’re focused on that particular moment. This is what yoga and meditation help you do.
Journaling
There is something about putting your thoughts on paper that helps put it all in perspective. It’s like releasing pent up negative energy when that pen reaches the paper (or when that keyboard stroke hits the Microsoft word Doc). When I write things down, I either realize that things aren’t so bad or that I need to take better care of myself. Journaling also helps me make vital decisions, as it will often confirm the truth of a situation. Sometimes you’ve been feeling something for a long time, but have been pushing that thought to the back of your head. Journaling can help you reevaluate several aspects of your life. Your mind knows what’s right and writing down your thoughts and feelings often confirm that you’re right. Journaling doesn’t have to be just your thoughts and feelings; you can make lists of things that make you happy, draw a pretty picture, write down inspiring quotes, or lyrics to songs. A journal can be anything you make it.
Don’t procrastinate
Procrastination is a fact of life at college. We all do it and a certain amount of procrastination is to be expected because, face it, we’d all rather watch Netflix or hang out with friends than write that paper. However, too much procrastination creates more stress in the long run for most people. I know some people that thrive off of pressure, but personally, it makes me feel panicked and as a result, I feel an uncomfortable rush of adrenaline to get everything done the last minute. Most importantly though, the end result of my project is never as good as it could’ve been. It might be a passing grade, but it always kills me to know that it could’ve been better. Therefore, I try to prioritize what I need to get done ASAP. Making to-do lists and prioritizing my tasks helps me put my goals in perspective. Also, when I think of something I need to get done, I try to do it in that moment when I can; whether this would be sending an e-mail, cleaning a messy area of my room, scheduling appoints, etc. I’m the queen of procrastination, so I know how easy it is for procrastination to get the best of you, but in the end, I learned that the stress that comes with is not worth it. That stress is not worth watching an extra episode of Gilmore Girls on Netflix. You will be a better student for it and your mind will thank you in the long run.
Don’t be afraid to get help:
Sometimes these tips are not enough and stress can be a sign of a larger problem such as anxiety disorder, depression, etc. If you find that stress is interfering with your daily life, you could seek professional help. A lot of people are afraid to get help because of the stigma surrounding mental health and illness. However, admitting that you need help doesn’t make you weak. If anything, recognizing that you have a problem and need help is a sign of strength. We have an amazing mental health resource on campus, Center for Counseling and Psychological Services. CAPS is a wonderful resource to utilize as not only are all the counselors licensed professionals, but the service is on campus and free of charge to students. They also offer group counseling sessions focusing on various mental health issues. Additionally, you can find mindfulness mediation and relaxation audio files on their website: https://www.ithaca.edu/sacl/counseling/resources/selfhelpaudiofiles/. Don’t be afraid to utilize CAPS; the counselors are not there to judge your life, only to help give you the support you need for mental health.
Stress is a beast to deal with, but everyone has the ability to relax themselves, you just have to search deep to find that calm place inside of you. Your state of well-being is not entirely measured by what happens to you, but rather is about your attitude in life about all things good and bad. Stress is never going to stop happening to you, it’s how you manage and react to the stressors that matters. If you can learn to embrace stress instead of letting it take over your life, you will be able to handle college like a champ!
