Universities: Are they only stressful?

Between tests, final exams, homework, projects, extra-curricular activities, and taking 12 to 18 units at one time it is no secret that college students are stressed out all the time.

However, for this generation, universities seem to be taking its toll on the individuals that attend.

“Those who have worked in counseling centers for the last decade have been consistently ringing a bell saying something is wrong, things are getting worse with regard to college student mental health,” Says Pennsylvania State University psychologist Ben Locke, PhD. “With this year’s report, we’re now able to say, ‘Yes, you’re right.’ These are really clear and concerning trends.”

A sophomore at a junior college, Bertha Ahumada says, “[I have stress because] I am trying to find a balance between working and school and then trying to add a social life in the entire mix. It is hard.”

While freshman pre-nursing student, Aja Gerardo, states, “I have stress like everyone else. However, when Mount Saint Mary’s makes you take a class like Freshman year seminar that is supposed to help you manage your stress, and instead of helping [our stress] it only makes it worse.”

When starting undergraduate, whether you are at a university or junior college, everything that worked for you in high school will no longer work out in college.

“Many people are going away to school, so they are moving away from their social support network, and that is a pretty huge change right there,” Scott says to Fox business. “At the same time, they have a lot of new things they have to navigate–not just getting around campus and living on their own, but choosing their classes, choosing what direction they want to go in their lives and choosing whom to hang out with.”

Dr. Nancy Stockton, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Indiana University, tells USA Today, “adjusting to college can also cause stress if students feel they are not making personal connections with their peers. Something I hear over and over again is students are impatient in college to form the friend network that they had at home in their communities,” she says. “It is very stressful when they do not immediately have the deep friendships that they have with people who understand them and have lived through many of their life’s experiences with them.”

Stockton says that “to be human is to experience stress, and sources of student stress vary. In addition to school-related stress, personal issues also affect students emotionally.”

Gerardo says, “A big reason I do have stress is that I do not have the support system that I did back in high school. Sure, my parents did add to the stress, but at the same time, they made sure I did everything I needed to do. They had my back and now being in a university, all by myself, makes me miss them but make me wish I had the same support as I did in high school.”

Ahumada says, “I think my best decision in attending community college than attending university right away is because I now know what I wanted. If I had gone to university I probably would have taken all the classes freshmen needed to take and I would have been a whole lot miserable than I am now.”

Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles require their undergraduate freshman to take a ‘freshman year seminar’ – for short, FYS. Antelope Valley College require their students to take reading and writing classes. UCLA require their students to take orientation classes for the year. Classes that is probably better off allowing their students to take a two-week course are making them take the classes as a requirement to graduate.

As the ‘National Institute of Mental Health’ says there are five things to know about stress. First, stress affects everyone and not just the college student – it is called everyday stress.

“I do not think I am going to end up harming myself but sometimes I just need a break. I know that when it is near the end of the semester I just have to take a deep breathe and kind of just forget about homework, quizzes, tests, and project and just do something for myself. It is hard work and I love that even though my family is not around twenty-four hours to help me I can still call my mom whenever I want.” Says Gerardo.

Second, not all stress is bad. The government website says that if you have some stress, it can turn into motivation if you let it.

It says, “In response to danger, your body prepares to face a threat or flee to safety. In these situations, your pulse quickens, you breathe faster, your muscles tense, your brain uses more oxygen and increases activity—all functions aimed at survival.”

“I do have [the] motivation but I believe that has more to do with the fact that my mom always told me since last semester was that if I did well and passed Freshman Year Seminar (FYS) then I would not have to retake it. Though sometimes I look at the homework my science professors assigned and the time I have to go to class makes me want to skip. However, I always go back to what my mom told me and that is to just push through whatever I am feeling so I do not have to think about the class anymore.” Gerardo continues.

Third, just as stress is a regular part of life students should know when it eventually turns harmful.

According to the 2015 National College Health Assessment, 30% of students reported that stress had negatively affected their academic performance within the past year, and over 85% had felt overwhelmed by everything they had to do at some point within the past year.

David Sneed, director of the Growth and Purpose for Students program at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., says to USA Today, “they think they know what it is like, especially for freshmen. This time of year, is the first time they have gone through their midterms, it is the first time they’re getting ready to do advising and get ready for the next semester.”

Gerardo says, “I do have stress, and I do believe that I need to manage my time better. I feel like if I plan out my day or in a week advance I will not feel like everything is coming at me at once.”

Fourth, there are ways to manage stress. From exercising to eating healthy makes all the difference.

“While stress may seem inevitable,” David Sneed says, “being proactive and taking advantage of campus resources can make it more manageable.”

The University of Health Center associated to the University of Georgia website says, “On average, most college students get 6 – 6.9 hours of sleep per night, and the college years are notoriously sleep-deprived due to an overload of activities. Recent research on college students and sleep indicates that insufficient sleep impacts our health, our moods, our GPA and our safety.”

“Sleep helps us save energy. It repairs cells in the body. And it is key for memory consolidation,” study author Adam Knowlden, a doctoral student in the health promotion and education program, said in a university news release. “During sleep, the brain acts like a hard drive on a computer. It goes in and cleans up memories and makes connections stronger, and it gets rid of things it does not need,” he explained. “So, if a student is sleep deprived, it affects the whole process. Students are not able to learn, they are not able to remember, it is harder to concentrate and it affects mood. They’re working their way through college and they’re not maximizing their learning potential.”

Ahumada says, “I make it worse for myself when I do not eat properly or when I do not sleep a full eight hours. For me, it makes it worse and is the reason why so many students are so stressed out.” She continues, “when I do not have a full eight hours I am always worried that I will fall asleep, and if I do fall asleep because I am so tired I miss information that could be on a test or I end up getting sick making me miss class. This is probably why I try not to do that. I got into a car accident because I fell asleep behind the wheel because I was not getting as much sleep, but I still wanted to push through.”

“It is always kind of a joke with students that [getting sleep] can be very hard to do as a college student,” Stockton says. “But trying to get enough sleep, seven to nine hours is good. Try to eat as healthfully as possible. Bodies we know are well-rested and well-nourished withstand the effects of stress better.”

Ahumada and Gerardo are two of what most students feel every day in their educational careers. It is, however, up to the student to figure out what it is that makes their life balanced.