Stress
Stress on the Student Mind
By Gloria Saldivar
One out of four college students reports feeling stressed daily. There are many factors that contribute to this fact whether it is the lack of sleep, the workload, personal problems at home, or even financial problems. The average college student will definitely experience stress and learning how to cope with that stress is very important.
Most college students know of someone that has tried to tackle stress in a wrong and unhealthy way. Coping with it in a wrong way can lead to a downhill spiral that can knock just about anyone off track. Dealing with stress does not have to be difficult; it is actually fairly easy especially when you follow the four A’s: avoid, alter, accept, and adapt.
Avoid: avoiding stress is completely up to oneself. It can be easily done here at Taft College by staying on track with ones school work, keeping in mind that it is making a better student out of you, and there will be less stressful all-nighters.
Alter: we are in complete control of our stressful situations. We have the ability to change the way things are going and try to make them better.
Accept: if for some reason something can’t be changed than accept it. Maybe financial aid is not fully covering tuition. Accepting that and coming up with ways to help pay for tuition is the responsible thing to do instead of complaining about it and making life difficult.
Adapt: learning how to manage time can be rough and it can even take a toll on students if not well prepared. Adapting to the college life is not the easiest thing to do, but it can be done.
Following the four A’s can be beneficial if used to ones’ advantage. Other simple ways to reduce stress is by simply taking deep breathes and clearing the mind for a couple of minutes. Coming up with solutions will be easier once the mind is cleared of all the hectic things going on. Another way is to get the body in motion to get rid of all the tension that builds up during stressful times and get those good ol’ endorphins running through the body.
Dealing with stress does not have to be stressful! (no pun intended) . Cope with it the right way, and you’ll be one step closer to the road of success.