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“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.” – Richard Carlson
It’s the beginning of a new school year, and whether you’re a freshman or a senior or anything in between, we can all relate to one feeling about the upcoming semester: stress.
Stress. The one thing that almost every college student can relate to. You may be looking at your schedule right now and wondering how you’re going to be able to handle that many credit hours. That class syllabus just came out and it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of hard work. Maybe you have a lot of responsibilities this year with different organizations or jobs, or maybe you just have things going on at home that’s adding to your burden at school. Also, getting back into a school routine and adjusting to your new schedule can just be all around stressful. Some mornings in my townhouse these past few weeks have shown just how stressful this can be. One morning we could be totally on top of everything and know exactly what we have to do each day. The next we could be running around trying to email people, read for our class at 8 AM, grabbing breakfast to go, and not knowing what our day exactly looks like. Some mornings there are planners and schedules flying around and everyone is checking their phones so that they won’t forget anything. Each of us wake up with a to-do list and the stress that comes with it.
Most of that could be attributed to just nerves, but once things start to add up and once those schedules start to become full, it starts to become more of a burden. Stress is impossible to completely avoid, and in small amounts, stress can even be beneficial. If that stress continues though, or if there’s repeated short-term stress, and you feel constantly stressed-out, then that could lead to harmful effects on the mind and body. For example, panicking about every single quiz or test in every class means that you are stressed almost every week in a semester. Or constantly worrying about your everyday job and every class each day could lead to stress on a daily basis.
“Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.” -Astrid Alauda
Letting stress run wild in your body can lead to negative short-term effects such as headaches and stomach aches, and even difficulty sleeping. As students we don’t have time for that, and then we get stressed out more. Long-term effects of constant stress can be more harmful though, varying from heart disease to strokes.
This all sounds really bad, I know, and even writing this stresses me out a little. So here’s the part where I tell you how to fix this constant stress and prevent the health problems that come with it. To deal with stress and keep it at bay, you mainly just need to know how to manage it.
“Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.” -Brian Tracy
A big thing for college students is to learn how to prioritize commitments. Believe it or not, we can’t do everything. Between classes, jobs, organizations, sports, and other activities, we have a lot on our plates already. Something many of us, including me, need to learn how to do is how to choose what’s most important to us and then focus on those few things, instead of packing even more into our schedules. It may be fun to think that you can take every class you want, have every job you want, participate in every event, club, and other activity, but realistically, it’s extremely stressful.
On the subject of prioritization, prioritizing yourself is also an important way to decrease stress. It’s so easy to get caught up in what we have to do for other people or the things that need to get done each day for our classes or jobs. Sometimes we forget what it means to relax or do what needs to be done for our own well-being. An important skill to learn, however, is taking time for yourself. Maybe take at least 30 minutes of your day to do what you WANT to do, not what you need to do. Go sit outside and people-watch, go watch some of your favorite show on Netflix, go read for a little bit, anything that makes you happy and relaxed, go do for a little bit each day. I promise that taking 30 minutes out of your day for yourself will not hurt you or what you need to get done for classes, jobs, etc. Instead, making this boundary around protecting your energy can make you more productive when you return back to work.
“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.” -Mark Black
Prioritization is not just about making time for yourself, you should also make decisions that will benefit your well-being. It’s okay to say ‘no’ to people if you already have a lot to do or if you just genuinely don’t want to do what they’re asking. If your friends want to go out and you just want to sleep, then it’s okay to say that you don’t want to go. If your boss asks you if you can work even more hours because they just NEED you, then it’s still okay to say ‘no’ if it’s too much for your mental health and busy schedule. I promise that it’s okay to say ‘no’, and you shouldn’t feel bad when you do.
Another way to handle stress, that most people already know about and give advice for, is to just take care of yourself physically. This is because taking care of yourself physically will help you take care of yourself mentally. Taking care of yourself would look like eating healthy, eating enough, exercising a little bit each week, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, and so on. Many people find that yoga, meditation, or breathing techniques help to relax your body and focus on only one thing for a short period of time. If you don’t know how to do this yourself, then there are plenty of YouTube videos about it, and Berry also has a few yoga classes throughout the week at the Cage that are free to students! (They’re also a lot of fun!)
I could go on and on about tips on how to handle stress, but the main thing to keep in mind is to be aware of your stress and know when you need to change things to manage it better. If you’ve tried every tip and trick you can think of, and you’re still extremely stressed, then don’t forget that Berry also has a Counseling Center. The services there are free to students, and the counselors are extremely kind and would love to help you with your stress or any other problems you may be facing.
Good luck to everyone this semester! 🙂
-Haley Stafford
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