You Don’t Have A Second To Waste And You’re Stressed
By Priya Joshi

The pressures placed on college students these days are far different than when our parents were growing up. The race to get that high paying job or exclusive internship is exciting, but at times the stress can become unbearable. According to the University of Florida Counseling Center, stress is a normal part of everyday life and can only be harmful when in excess amounts.

As young adults, this is an important time in our lives to be healthy and focused. The Counseling Center suggests several ways in which over-stressed college students can relieve some of the tension of their hectic lives and ways to classify what kind of stress you are feeling in order to relax you faster, such as understanding your stress factors, and gaining a perspective on your problems by discussing them.

Personally, when I am feeling stressed I first like to think about what exactly is stressing me out. I ask myself the question: where is this stress coming from? The answer can be found in your environment, social life, your thoughts or how you’re feeling psychologically. As a college student, I usually find that most of my stress comes from either my social life or my thoughts. As many students do, I often stress about balancing my social life with keeping up my grades. College is a great time to meet new people and try new things, but it is sometimes difficult to find a harmony between the social and academic.

The Counseling Center gives a variety of different ways to relieve the stress of college life. The one that I find most effective is organization. If you can organize times to do your work, relax and see friends, then you won’t be as stressed out about when you will be able to get things accomplished. Secondly, I found that discussing the issues I am stressed over helps me to cope with my problems and push through them.

The Counseling Center greatly encourages discussing your stress as a way of clarifying why you’re upset. Often times, I will think I am upset about one thing, but once I discuss the problem, I realize that it was really another aspect of my life that was bothering me. It is important to make sure that you manage your stress because it can have consequences to your health.

The Counseling Center created a list of ailments that can arise from stress that includes colds, muscle tension, high blood pressure and even ulcers. Since you already have enough going on as a college student, you don’t need to fall ill to add to your stress. Also, excessive stress does not only hurt you, but your relationships with others. If you are constantly strung out and irritable, it will affect the people around you.

The Counseling Center had good advice on how to deal with the stress that comes along with being in college. Although it may seem like you don’t have a second to waste, make sure to relax every once in a while for your health.