I think that all college students at one point or another have experienced stress. It might be from a class that you just can’t catch a break in. An essay you waited to do until the night before it was due. You may have just taken a test and now are waiting anxiously for your grade back.
All of these things I have just described I have experienced at one point in my years of being in school. For as much as I enjoy learning and most of the work I am given, I have a tendency to get overwhelmed with it, especially if I have more than one assignment due on the same day. I am fortunate that I have professors that understand that we have a full workload and will give extensions with no questions asked.
When it comes to stress, I am not the best at dealing with it. I have a tendency to break down in tears when something becomes particularly overwhelming for me. For the longest time, I was a nail biter and I just recently stopped biting them. Now, this is not the first time I have stopped biting my nails. I have gone periods without biting my nails, but always seem to start biting them again.
This time though I plan on permanently breaking this habit. I have mentioned this before, but I still live at home. When I was in high school, I thought that I was going to move out at the end of high school and go off to college out of state. Then, I turned 18 during the pandemic and I realized I was not ready to move out yet. I took a look at what the next four years would entail and saw that having that support system of my parents and extended family was crucial to me succeeding in college.
How does one deal with stress though? Honestly, I am still trying to figure that out. For example, sometimes I question if drinking too much caffeine contributes to my stress. I know myself well enough to see the patterns of what causes me to go into a spiral.
I have looked up how to deal with stress and all the advice tells me the same things. Some of the advice that pops up the most are get more sleep, exercise more (I spend half of my school day in the Griffin Hall stairwell, I get enough exercise), take a break and find a creative outlet.
I can agree that I need to take a break. Sometimes I can get wrapped up in my head with work and do not realize how exhausted I actually am. I was trying to think about if I have a creative outlet and I finally realized that my creative outlet is my job.
It is strange to say a job is a creative outlet, but hear me out. Writing my opinion pieces is a break from the very structured essay I frequently have to produce, especially this semester because I am working on some of my first semester-long research project that I know I will both enjoy and stress out about. Having a place where I can just write about my thoughts is a great way to relieve the stress that I do feel.
Other ways that I like to relax is by rewatching an episode of a show I like. Or I might read a book and listen to music. If I am really in the mood for music I might pick a record and play it on my turntable. When I know that I need to step away from my computer I might walk to the grocery store that is not that far from where I live. Maybe I will put on my favorite romantic comedy in the background while I work. If you would like to know what my favorite rom-com is, it is 2013’s “Austenland.”
Stress is a part of life that, at the end of the day, I just have to deal with.
I have to make the effort to stop myself when I feel too tired or when I know stepping away from it will benefit me in the long run.