College Stress

Can Stress Be A Blessing In Disguise?
By Alyssa Schwartz

“I’m SO stressed!” This statement is one that is heard over and over by numerous people throughout each and every day. I personally say the phrase at least once or twice a day. Between school, work, socializing and life responsibilities; there are many factors coming in and out of our lives that cause us to be stressed.

As a society, we have made stress into an illness that we constantly want to avoid; but is stress really as bad as it is made out to be?

According to the University of Florida Counseling Center, stress comes into people’s lives through various different channels. There are four primary sources of stress that can cause people to have physical, emotional and cognitive pains and worries in their lives. People become tense and nervous, ultimately causing themselves “stress.”

We let this stress affect the way we run our lives. Our perspective on stress is often so concentrated on seeing the negative; that we fail to see all of the good that can come with being “stressed.”

I see stress as motivator rather then a problem. As a college student there are a lot of “stresses” that come with doing well in school and achieving a degree. Waking up earlier than wanted, working hard all day in various classes then coming home to do more reports and assignments all cause a great deal of worry and anxiety.

Stress becomes my motivator to do well and to work hard. The anxiety and nervousness that comes with deadlines and grades is what pushes me to do better and work harder. Without that stress; there would be little motivation or reason to work my hardest.

The stress put on college students by society to go to school and get a degree is one of the main reasons most people go to school and work hard. Especially in today’s economy, the need for a degree pushes people to go to school and do well.

The jobs and opportunities that come out of achieving a college degree are usually worth the stress and work that one has to contribute. Stress was one of the main forces behind my motivation to receive an internship I wanted and to be successful in the job. The stress of the competition pushed me to prove myself as the best candidate. Stress becomes a high force behind success.

While having too low of a stress level will not do much of anything for you; having too high of a stress level will not better you either. The University of Florida suggests developing a balanced lifestyle as a way of overcoming stress and finding an optimum stress level. The ability to make stress work for you is an essential part of finding the good in stress.

Everyone is going to get stressed at some point in his or her lives. Almost every situation we have humans can cause stress on some level. It is so easy to get caught up in our problems and in our stress that we let it affect us in a negative manner.

Learning how to indentify stress and turn it into a positive aspect could lead people to be more successful in everything that they do. Finding your optimum stress will ultimately enable you to work hard, concentrate more and motivate yourself to be the best you can be.