Causes and Effects of Stress in the Life of a College Student
If one were to ask an adult about their college experience it is likely than the majority will say it was the best time of their life. They had fun, enjoyed the full college experience, etc. If you ask students currently in college to describe their experience, it may still be the best time of their life but it will likely also be described as stressful and filled with a variety of pressures. The average college student will likely change his/her major at least once, seek for clubs or fraternities/sororities to fit in with, work to have some spending money or to pay their way through school, deal with being away from home for extended periods of time for the first time, and other things that will increase anxiety levels. So what is a major cause initially?
According to Emily Driscoll from foxbusiness.com, the competitive nature of college and new expenses are major factors that bring extra anxiety to new students. Many students are not just looking to go to the nearby home university; some have aspirations to get into the Ivy League or top medical schools and law schools which present extreme competition to simply get in the door (Driscoll, E.) Excelling in high school socially and academically is easy compared to college so the challenges of what to expect will have students feeling the stress just anticipating it. The process of leaving home includes leaving that social support of the family being there in house, adding personal responsibilities that involve changes to daily routines. There are so many more distractions in college that make it harder to focus and have priorities in the proper order (Driscoll, E.) Elizabeth Scott from stress.about.com notes how with...
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Works Cited
Driscoll, Emily. “Stress in College: What Causes it and How to Combat it.” Online posting. 31
Mar. 2011. http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/03/31/stress-college-causes-combat/. http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/stress-and-college-students.aspx http://www.collegeparents.org/members/resources/articles/your-college-student-stressed- probably. Hardy, Marcelina. “Statistics on College Student Stress.” Online posting. http://stress.lovetoknow.com/Statistics_on_College_Student_Stress. Kerr, Michael. “Depression and College Students.” Online Posting. 29 Mar. 2012. http://www.healthline.com/health/depression/college-students#2. Scott, Elizabeth. “Stress In College: Common Causes of Stress In College.” Online posting. 24
Sept. 2012. http://stress.about.com/od/studentstress/a/stress_college.htm.
College takes a serious toll on people, some are able to strive through and come out on top and some suffer from outside family issues, can’t financially keep up with school or just lack the skills that are needed for higher education. College sometimes just isn’t for everyone; and students can’t handle it all like I couldn’t myself.
In the essay “College Pressures” by William Zinsser, Zinsser speaks about the pressures and anxiety that plague college students, all the while wishing that they had “a chance to savor each segment of their education as an experience in itself and not as a grim preparation for the next step.” Referring to the 1979 generation of college students as “panicky to succeed”, he lists four of the following stressors for college students.
Life is never easy, no matter how hard we try to short cut and escape the inevitable difficulties. After college is when life sets in, when work becomes a necessity and we all begin to find a place to settle down. People respond differently to different situations. Some of us embrace the freedom and the ability to earn money and spend money indiscriminately. Others crumple under the social pressures placed on us.
Everyone has experienced some type of stress in their life. Whether it has been from work, school, or trouble at home, stress is stress. If anyone had played sports in high school, you know the challenge of balancing school and sports. Imagine that stress, then multiply it exponentially. Everyone knows that college is a much more rigorous version of high school.
4 Giancola, J.K., Grawitch, M.J., and Borchert, D. (2009). Dealing with the stress of college: A
National Health Ministries (2006). Stress & The College Student. The University of Illinois at Chicago. http://www.uic.edu/depts/wellctr/docs/Stress%20and%20the%20College%20Student.pdf
Someone who is willing to take on all the responsibilities and do their best knowing the struggle that college brings should be praised for their enthusiasm and dedication. On the other hand, a good number of students are pushed by their parents, family, and high school administration like teacher to go to college, when they really do not want to. The people pushing act as if there is no other way to be successful in life unless you attend a university. The young adults that are pushed and are not willing to go to college are more likely to believe they will not do well and in doing so will not pass their classes resulting in wasting their time and money. The stress of college, if they are not prepared for it and are not ready to handle their new found responsibilities they will crack under the pressure. To not be ready and spend the money to go can be a disappointment in and of itself, but when you could wait and continue with your schooling when you are ready and have the money to do so then go forth to gain new knowledge. In Julie Scelfo article Suicide on campuses and the pressure of perfection she tells the story of a girl with so much presser on her to be perfect because everyone else is that it gets to he and she takes her life. She was not ready for college and was not prepared for what college was all
It is common for people who are not attending college to believe that college is easy, but in reality the average student faces a lot of challenges. With the increase in required college degrees for well paying occupations, more people are searching for a higher education. The rise in demand for a college degree has had adverse effects on the average college student. The types of challenges vary from student to student but some are better equipped than others, making it more challenging for those facing them alone. I believe some of the most difficult type of challenges are financial and lack of study skills.
Since, college students tend to have a lot on their hands with balancing finals, family, and working; might be too much to handle. It can build up stress which can also build up anxiety. Students in poverty can relate to the stress because the affordability of college can put pressure onto themselves and family members trying to save extra cash so their children can earn a degree and a better education that they wish they had in their young adult life.
Stress is defined in the dictionary as “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life”. Everyone encounters stress in their life caused by many different variables in life and we all cope with in different ways. The way one copes with the stress is how it can affect our body. Some take to working out, eating healthy, take breaks from what is stressing you out and getting plenty of sleep which are good ways to cope with it. Some take to other coping mechanisms that are not very great for the body. Some examples are stress eating, abuse of drugs and alcohol, bottling up the stress, and depression. These bad methods can cause serious damage to one’s health on the body.
College students face strenuous workloads daily, causing them to feel more pressure about their schoolwork and academics and resulting in anxiousness. About 50% of college students today are suffering from depression, a larger number than most believe, but not all reveal that they have a depressive issue (Deroma, Leach, Leverett 325). Researchers suggest that academic stress plays a big role in a college student’s depression. Most people know that college is a lot harder than high school ...
Everyone deals with stress at some point in his or her life. Most people deal with it daily. As defined in the book called Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness, stress is, “The mental, emotional, and physiological response of the body to any situation that is new, threatening, frightening, or exciting” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). This stress is caused by a stressor, which is also known as “a stress-causing event” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). Stressors can take all different forms, from moving to a new town, having a baby, or even writing a paper (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). One major stressor in life can be going to college. If not coped with properly, these stressors can leave a person with too much stress that could end up harming them mentally and physically, such as developing an illness (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). There are several ways to cope with stress. Some healthy ways to cope with stress would be practicing emotion-focused coping, building time-management techniques, and practicing meditation.
Bills, stress, responsibility, no free time, and possibly living paycheck to paycheck. Doesn’t sound ideal to a young adult who is fresh out of high school ready to start their new life and contemplating college. Priorities will change, you have to learn to adapt to the new workload. Completing all of it in a timely manner will be difficult. That said, all the opportunities and new skills you will receive after college will make you grateful for attending and sticking through all the negatives.
For college students anxiety has become more common due to them ranging from the ages of eighteen to nineteen as a freshman, some of them have left friends and family behind but mostly their home, coming from miles or even states away, moving in or off school campus and started working for the first time in a town they barely know. This makes it twice stressful for a new student since for once they have been left alone to raise themselves. Having to take care of expenses like paying their own phone bill, car insurance even having to buy their own groceries to cooking for themselves. Then another major cause can be money wise worrying how they will be able to pay certain items, they are over stressing about money balances. The entire transition from high school to college can be overwhelming for several leading to
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.