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When students are in high school and thinking about everything they will learn in college, they don’t even imagine the amount of stress they will be under. There’s only a small group of students who are without stress, or at least seem to be. The rest of the college students are dealing with stress every day. Some of this stress prevents them from reaching their potential. In this article, we will be discussing the factors that contribute to college student stress, and some ways in which they can be diminished or prevented.
College and The Unseen Stress
College can be stressful for many students, as detailed in an article written by the New York Times stating that college freshman stress levels were at a record high. The reasons are many, so we will begin to discuss what they are. For many students, leaving home to another state or another city within their state is such a dramatic move that it is troubling to them. There are stories of students who go to college far away from their homes. When they go home on break and then have to go back to college, they realize they will be alone and some get some bad anxiety over this.
Other stresses can be financial, social, and academic. College is a very difficult process in which time management, financial control, and social endeavors must be balanced, along with health and emotional control. Some students spend all their money right away and stress later in the year when they barely have any money to eat. This causes a domino effect which begins to affect their social life, which then affects their grades, and can create a stress bomb inside of their heads.
For many students, not having a social life can also become stressful. Maybe, when they were in high school, they were very social and school seemed to come naturally to them. They may have also been very popular, so it was easy to be social. Now, in college, everything seems to be so much more difficult, and the time spent socializing becomes work. Stress begins to pile up.
Like with anything, there’s always a solution to a problem. If you’ve been slacking off and falling behind on your homework, some ways to calm down so you can keep up on your demanding schedule is to do something for yourself. You might find a massage table for sale, and then find someone who does massages. You would be able to have regular massages to help with the stress of academic life. You may also want to hit the gym, grab a shower, and drink some coffee right after so that you not only get the natural adrenaline rush, but the caffeine to keep you stay concentrated.
We understand that sometimes we just want to “disconnect” to be able to reconnect to the task at hand. Colleges also understand this. For that reason, they have selected their locations to be close to places of entertainment and relaxation. Some places to go to relax and decompress are the parks inside of the campus. Here you can meditate under a tree, or simply lay on the grass and look at the sky. You can also get a group of friends and do something fun, either indoors or outdoors. You may want to go to a sporting event for your school’s team in whichever sport you prefer. Just do something to get out of your dorm or apartment, and get some fresh air to clear your mind so that you can concentrate on finishing your courses and getting your degree.
We discussed some of the factors that cause college students to stress out during their years at school. However bad it may seem in the beginning, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and you will learn how to fight against the stress as you grow into a more mature college student. If it is your first year in college, make sure to seek some help from your peers or your mentors, take some time off whenever you need it, and don’t give up.
This is a sponsored post.