Managing Stress in a Learning Environment

College life is one of the most memorable experiences in one’s life. When one joins college, she/she begins to enjoy the various academic activities vibrant environment and the company of friends. Besides nurturing adolescents, all these activities combine to prepare one for adulthood. However, from a closer look, while in college, students experience various challenges in their everyday life. The challenges cover the whole idea of a vibrant and exciting college life, contributing to stress. Watson (2012) defines stress as the tension that an individual experiences over a certain duration, which affects all aspects of a person’s life. If not handled properly, stress can escalate and interfere with a student’s social well-being, emotional health, and academic performance.
Sources of Stress
High levels of stress can interfere with a student’s ability to memorize, learn and obtain good grades. Besides these academic impacts, stress can equally affect a student’s emotional, physical and mental health. By learning about the following common stressors, we can help students mitigate chronic stress in their college life.
Academic Pressure
Teachers tend to assign more homework to students in preparation for standardized tests. In most cases, federal and state academic standards placed on teachers and schools are the major cause of increased stress levels experienced by students throughout college. Moreover, schools and parents exert performance pressure on students, which later raises the amount of stress so high that some teachers look at student stress as a health epidemic (Watson, 2012). To deal with this pressure, some high achieving students end up cheating during exams. Constant poor academic grades can make a student to be expelled thereby contributing significantly to student stress levels.
Physical Factors
College students are known to practice unhealthy eating habits, take alcohol and sacrifice sleep for extensive studying. Overall, these activities can compromise their physical health. Some students end up being chronically tired which eventually hampers with their class attendance or performance. Moreover, the students have less energy compared to their peers in good health to commit to their social and academic concerns. As a result, they require more time to study for classes or to perform tasks. The additional time needed for them to achieve their goals is also another contributor to stress.
Financial
Life in college is very expensive. Although some students qualify for adequate financial aid and others receive financial support from their parents to cater for their college expenses, others struggle to balance between work-student lives. Individuals who do low-paying jobs earn too little to pay for their book costs, tuition and other expenses while those who earn enough money suffer from stress because of the financial obligations they face. Even those who are eligible for adequate financial aid to cater for their college costs must deal with the stress of knowing that are expected to pay back after graduation. This debt can be a source of stress, even long after one finishes school and enters the job market (Watson, 2012).
Peer Pressure
Peer pressure is often fierce in college. Students confront pressure from their college peers to experiment with potentially harmful behaviors such as sexual activity, drugs, and alcohol. However, other chose not to engage in such behavior. In such a case, resisting the pressure to fit in is a major contributor to college stress. Students who participate in such behaviors still experience stress, both physical and emotional.
Effects of Stress
When students are exposed to stressors, they experience a range of cognitive, behavioral, emotional and physical reactions. Different people react to stress in different ways. The following are some of the common impacts of stress.
Emotion is one effect of stress. Students are likely to suffer from reduced confidence while around new people, in unfamiliar territories and when they meet new challenges (Seaward, 2017). Students will experience fear of failure because most of the classmates will be ahead regarding academic knowledge. This will make one wish that she/he had paid attention while in class. Moreover, those who have inadequate academic knowledge feel too embarrassed to seek help.
Stress can also affect one’s behavior including mood swings and moodiness (Seaward, 2017). At times, getting to class or schoolwork can become too overwhelming, and a student may break down. Moreover, the affected students may start to oversleep or under sleep leading to sleep deprivation. However, it can later impair their moral judgment, and a prolonged lack of adequate sleep can take a huge toll on one’s health eventually making the individual accident-prone.
Stress also affects the physical health of students (Watson, 2012). One may be prone to migraines and headaches as well as hyperventilation and shortness of breath. These arise due to panic and may give rise to more serious effects such as anxiety, emotional stress, increased sweating and heart attack. A common behavioral impact of stress is social withdrawal. Students who are stress regularly tend to isolate themselves (Seaward, 2017). By doing this, they cut themselves off from valuable support networks such as peers, family and other connections, which could be of help in achieving their educational and personal goals. In responding to the stressors, students may become overwhelmed and preoccupied with the stressful situations leaving no room for relationships. Failure to nurture relationships may affect their mental wellbeing causing problems like reduced productivity at school manifested as poor test scores and failed school projects.
Coping Strategies
College life is quite different from high school life. Once the join college, they may find other students being more motivated whereas schoolwork may be difficult, the instructors and demanding and one is now expected to be dependent. Such expectations, combined with higher educational standards make students to encounter higher levels of stress. Therefore, students should formulate strategies enabling them to balance a healthy lifestyle and the new academic demands. Fortunately, researchers have presented some coping strategies for students experiencing stress. Many students can reduce the level of stress by using any or combining some of these strategies.
Study Breaks
The importance of study breaks cannot be ignored. As previously stated, sacrificing sleep for extensive studying is a major contributor to stress. Trying to study for long is quite overwhelming. Staring at the computer of the textbook for an extended period makes it hard for one to keep eyes open. No matter how long stares at the textbook, without concentration, no learning would take place. Instead of wasting time studying like this, one can consider studying for forty uninterrupted minutes and then take a short break before returning to the books. Alternatively, one may grab a snack, go to the gym or get some fresh air; these may help relax and get the mind off the books a bit. In doing this, when the individual goes back to studying, the mind will be refreshed and focused on the task (Collins et al. 2010).
Exercise
Exercising is a valuable strategy for reducing stress and improving focus, as well as memory. During exercise, the body releases chemical substances called endorphins in the brain. These substances act as natural painkillers, which make one’s body and mind to feel good. Anytime students feel that they are under insane stress, they can hit the gym or engage in a quick run within the neighborhood. After doing such an exercise, students are likely to feel more relaxed and at peace with the previously stressful situation.
Create Time For Yourself
Most students find this impossible especially because of the many assignments and short deadlines. However, it is important for one to spare time for him/herself and even the things that she/he loves. It is normally hard to balance school, social life, sleep and even time alone for self. However, tight school schedules and assignments make some students give up their social life. The factor causes student stress. It is important to find time to spend with family, friends or just alone. For instance, one can spend his spare time at the gym, watching movies, writing journals or hanging out with friends and family. Setting aside some time for doing things that one likes outside of schoolwork, fosters relaxation and relieves stress (Collins et al. 2010).
Conclusion
College life is demanding and this leads to high levels of student stress. Therefore, students must develop a healthy and balanced lifestyle to help avoid stress. Students who experience stress can consider the above coping strategies because if not handled, stress can have devastating effects on a student’s well-being, academic performance, and overall health.


References
Collins, K. M., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Jiao, Q. G. (2010). Toward a broader understanding of stress and coping: Mixed methods approach. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Pub.
Heiselt, A., & Hughey, A. (2014). College Student Affairs Journal, Volume 32, Issue 1. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Seaward, B. L. (2017). Managing Stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Watson, J. C. (April 01, 2012). Managing College Stress: The Role of College Counselors. Journal of College Counseling, 15, 1, 3-4.