Making Freshman Year Less Stressful

First semester college freshman battle stress, depression, and anxiety caused by the transition from high school to college. Adaptation alone is a stressful series of occurring events, and to adapt to their [freshman] surrounding environment, an individual must manage problems, challenges, and demands in his or her daily life (Dyson 2). The transition from high school to a major university is portrayed as the process of growing into adulthood from youth. On top of being unfamiliar with college life, many freshmen second guess their academic abilities and whether or not they can meet the expatiations of their over zealous parents. Rachael Dyson asserts, freshmen students are challenged by an individual’s personal security, need for acceptance, need for comfort, and social support system (Dyson 2). Stress generally occurs when demands placed on an individual surpass his or her ability to endure. Many freshmen students rely on mom and dad for physical and emotional support. Without the help of their parents, some students poorly adjust to university life, “as noted thus far, the need to adjust to a new situation, the experience of stress, and the use of different types of coping strategies may be related to the experience of physical and psychological symptoms in individuals”(Dyson 4). Generalized stress is defined as a condition of psychological stimulation that results when external strain surpasses a person’s adaptive abilities. Academic stress is studied comprehensively as a significant factor in college student adjustment ( Brown 1).

Stress has been shown to be especially common in college freshman, and evidence strongly suggests that stress and emotional distress are associated with alcohol abuse in college students. Two sepa...

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...lusive evidence proves the academic suffers a college freshmen endures is, by all means, stressful. During the transitional stages from high school to college, a freshman student evolves from fresh greenhorn into a hardened emotional basket case. Once students fully adapt and get a grip on reality, college success becomes more evident and motivation soon increases. University life does not revolve around night life and social popularity. Most first semester freshmen cross the threshold of college with the wrong mentality, eventually becoming part of the drop out brigade. Other freshmen constantly fret about standards and high expectations set by their parents and academic programs. Excellent work ethic and time management will carry any motivated students to the heights of college success. Aristotle said, “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”