Adults across America have had their lives affected by stress, and not in a positive way. Stress increases the risk of illness and even premature death, and an article by PubMed Central (PMC) dives deeper into this topic.
PMC conducted a study and discovered that 33.7% of adults in the U.S. (out of nearly 186 million) have reported that stress has impacted their health to some extent, and out of those who reported this stress, 43% had an increased risk of premature death.
The Oxford Dictionary defines stress in two different ways: “sense relating to adversity, strain, or exertion,” and “overwhelming pressure experienced by someone or something as a result of some adverse force or influence.” Neither sound very pleasant.
A lot of people, especially college students, experience stress due to school, work, or even events that are happening in their daily lives.
Why would someone want to manage this feeling of stress?
“Self-leadership and stress among college students: Examining the moderating role of coping skills,” by Sherry A. Maykrantz and Jeffery D. Houghton, covers this topic and explains some of the side effects of stress.
“Stress can contribute to health problems directly through physiological effects, like sleep disturbances, depression, and suicide, and recurring or frequent illness, or indirectly through maladaptive coping behaviors like smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, and overeating.”
This exact quote should explain why stress management is impertinent to having a healthy mental and physical state. When you’re stressed, your heart rate, blood pressure, and alertness rises, leading to insomnia and all accompanied with the lack of sleep.
Unfortunately not a lot of students even know where to start with stress management. They’re desperately trying to balance school – which includes exams, quizzes, lectures, and copious amounts of homework – with life, and possibly even a job on top of all of that.
A short survey was conducted and answers were collected from local Running Start and College students to gather some ways that fellow students like to manage stress.
“I try to manage my stress by always taking time for myself if ever necessary,” says Ioana Muresan, a local running start student. “School is stressful and so whenever I get a break I ALWAYS use it as a time to get away from everything. It helps reset my mind and then once I start with my work again it is like a fresh start.”
A full time college student, Brandon DeFrance, keeps it simple when managing his stress. He says,“I do things I like to do, watch football, play video games, talking with friends or family (either in person or online).”
Another local running start student, Alexis Nason, said that she manages stress as a student by “Hobbies! I make sure I have time to focus on the things I actually enjoy doing outside of class.”
“I always make time to prioritize self-care,” says Sarah Carlson, who also goes to college full time. “By going for a walk, spending time with friends, or simply getting enough sleep, it allows me to set boundaries between study time and personal time. This ensures that I’m not overwhelmed and can approach my academic responsibilities with a clear and focused mind.”
A person that would like to remain anonymous also responded. They said that their preferred way to manage their stress is “Taking a small break or studying with peers to work together on tough assignments.”
Full time college student, Reanna Lee, says “I like to plan things out in advance so I know exactly what needs to get done each day of the week. This lowers stress around missing deadlines and eliminates the worry of having to plan what I’m doing tomorrow when I’m already exhausted from a long day.”
Nova Cramer, who is a full time college student as well, shared that their favorite way to manage stress is “When able I remove myself from my work environment and do activities that make me happy like my hobbies.”
One of the biggest stressors in the life of a student is studying, and with the end of the fall quarter a few weeks away, now is the time to plan in advance, so the survey respondents also left their favorite study tips for students to try.
Muresan says “Always take breaks. Never study for more than one hour at a time without taking at least a 5 min break.”
DeFrance reminds you to “Try your best to not fall behind, college goes at a slow but constant pace. Blink and you could fall behind if you don’t keep your work up.”
Nason says that her favorite study tip is “MAKE A TO-DO LIST! It is so helpful to write out my assignments for the whole week on Monday so that I can see which ones I need to prioritize. I write out a to-do list with the “MUST-DO’S” at the top, and the lower priority assignments at the bottom.”
Carlson says that organization is her best study tip, “Staying organized has been a lifesaver. I keep a planner to track assignments, deadlines and study sessions. This has helped me stay on top of my workload and prevented last- minute cramming.”
The person who wishes to remain anonymous says that their best study tip is “Stay consistent. Even though the test or due date seems far, it’s easy to fall behind with the amount of work and limited time you think you don’t have. Staying consistent in studying small amounts daily can limit stress so you’re not cramming all the knowledge you’re supposed to know in one day.”
Lee’s favorite study tip: “My best study tips would be to use the Pomodoro timer technique for focusing, and active recall to remember large amounts of information.”
A local Highline college student who would also like to stay anonymous shared that their favorite method for studying is the “30-10-30” method. Much like the Pomodoro timer that was mentioned before, the “30-10-30” method has you work for 30 minutes, take a break for 10, then continue to work for 30 more minutes, then rinse and repeat.
And Cramer says to “Take good notes and focus on the areas that you don’t feel confident in. Also if you can’t understand it on your own, go to office hours, professors aren’t scary and they want you to learn.”
The respondents also left some words of encouragement for fellow students:
“Never let stress bring you down. You are capable of a lot of hard things and you will always get through it.” – Ioana Muresan
“You’ve overcome hard things before so you are absolutely capable of doing it again.” – Alexis Nason
“If things are out of your control, don’t worry about it, you can’t do anything about it. If things are in your control, don’t worry about it, you got it.” – Brandon DeFrance
“Time management is key.” – Anonymous
“Do the hard things now so your future self can thank you later!” – Reanna Lee
“Have fun, don’t make the school part of college your whole life. Join clubs, hang out with friends, make connections. You won’t remember the exams, but you will remember the fun you had.” – Nova Cramer
“Focus on progress, not perfection.” – Sarah Carlson
If you need extra support in person or online, the Counseling Center here at Highline, in Building 6, is wonderful and is here to support you! Walk-ins are available around appointments, so to ensure meeting appointments are available.
The counseling center here at Highline has recently started a “Loving-Kindness meditation” online. “A few of the following benefits to this practice are: Greater resilience; Increased positive emotions such as love, joy, awe and hope; Increased empathy; Improved self-compassion; Enhanced wellbeing.
If you are interested, the next sessions are at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday 10/30, Tuesday 11/5, and Wednesday 11/6. You can access the sessions with the zoom link, here.