The stress of college is very real, and has an impact on the lives and coping strategies of myself and those around me. However, my friends in general, myself, and a specific friend, have all taken very different approaches. The majority of my friends have become very social and friendly, and engage in behaviors that encourage gaining social support from well-known friends. One friend in particular, however, has consistently engaged in behaviors that seek to gain similar social support from a party setting. I, on the other hand, have begun to relate more closely to my family, far more than I did when I actually lived with them. These differences in social strategies can help show the differences between our well-being and social instincts, and provide suggestions about how to improve oneself through better social behaviors. Going back to the example of a large majority of my friends, relying on close friendships and their support seems to be very beneficial. I see nothing but positivity from my friends, even when they have difficulty with schoolwork, and in their spare time, their door is always open for anyone to visit and hang out. Quite often, they try to organize activities, as well, such as going to movies or coordinating dinner plans, which helps make everyone feel like a part of the greater group, at least from my own experiences. This coincides with the data given to us in the paper entitled: "Coping Mechanisms, Stress, Social Support, and Health Problems in College Students", since my friends have hardly been sick for more than a few days total since college began and are generally happy and outgoing, which seems to be quite healthy when compared to another friend, who will be discussed in the next paragraph. Their hig... ... middle of paper ... ...ress, generally only increase their own stress instead. Using myself as an example, my own relationship with my family has increased my perceived social support enough to have a noticeable change in stress. These observations show that the relationships shown in the paper mentioned earlier, "Coping Mechanisms, Stress, Social Support, and Health Problems in College Students", can be seen in real life, and that the lesson they teach should also be applied to anyone who prefers to engage in the high-risk coping strategies that they pointed out in drug-use and high-risk sexual behavior. College students, and people in general, should focus on maintaining happy and heathy relationships with compatible friends, and their family, rather than pursuing the perceived social support associated with alcohol and the "party scene" in general, which is largely illusory in nature.
Before my years in high school, I rarely put time and effort into studying and constantly associated with my friends at school; that is until I entered high school. The different competitive atmosphere at high school caused me to suddenly prioritize my studies ahead of everything else and my ambition became greater than ever. I began to interact less with my old friends and become less sociable with those around me. My parents also began to notice this drastic change and encouraged me to once in a while contact my old friends. During the beginning, I contacted my friends about two or three times a week, but the phone calls began to gradually diminish. I began to abandon my previous cheerful, ebullient nature in order to conform to the competitive, tense study environment at high school. As long as I successfully accomplished my goals and was accepted by others, I was willing to alter myself in order to assimilate into the mainstream environment. Through my hard work and perseverance, I was able to reach my goal and receive the acknowledgement of others; however, despite fulfilling all my ambitions, I did not feel any joy or satisfaction within myself. Even though I successfully accomplished my objectives in school, I realized that in return I completely sacrificed my social life. Despite being accepted by others, I began to feel a sense of loneliness and longed to
Many first year college students face problems as they enter a new educational environment that is very different than that of high school. However, the common problem is that many first year students become stressed. For many students, college is supposed to be the most fun time of their life; however, their fun can be restricted if it is limited by stress and other mental illnesses. According to the National Health Ministries (2006), stress is caused by “greater academic demands,” the feeling of being independent from family, “financial responsibility,” homesickness, being exposed to meeting new people, peer pressure, “awareness of one’s own sexual identity,” and the abuse of drugs and alcohol (p. 2). However, the causes to first year students’ stress mainly include academic demand, parents, finance, and peer pressure.
The peer pressure to fit in is horrid in college. Older students already twenty-one, convincing freshmen to binge drink fail to consider the consequences. Known facts show “Those consequences can range in severity from having a hangover, performing poorly on a test, or missing class to getting into an argument or fight, driving under the influence, being hurt or injured, or being taken advantage of sexually.” (NCADD). The consequences may not seem much, till it becomes personal issues then leading to more binge drinking. The need to be involved with others only is damaging and controlling; wanting to follow the scene to gain sociability skills and popularity with binge drinking is not appropriate but continues to happen
The researchers were diverse, such as receiving information from, White, Latina, Asian American and “other ethnic groups” (Sy, Fong, Carter, Boehme & Alpert, 2011). These studies were important to conduct because college can be a very stressful time in someone’s life and there are several factors that play into succeeding. It was also important to see if a completion of a degree was related to motivational factors, and to see if a student is in current contact with family members, emotionally and physically; because if a student feels alone it may be harder to succeed. Stress plays a huge role as well, because continuing to build up stress and not releasing it in a healthy way will cause problems in college. Especially, if an individual has gone through a new experience beforehand, it would cause less stress as oppose to doing it for the first time. According to the research, students struggle more in their first year of college as far as stress, feeling isolated, and not having access to the right social support systems (Barry, Hudley, Kelly, & Chan,
Park, C. L., Armeli, S., & Tennen, H. (2004). The daily stress and coping process and alcohol use among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 65(1), 126.
College is a prime example of how forgetting how hard it is to make friends with complete strangers after being friends with the same people for years in high school. Friendship is a meticulous concept that can be extremely rewarding if both parties put in equal effort. Social penetration is the idea that intimacy with someone else is a process that slowly evolves through the gradual exposure of one’s personal information according to Griffin (2012.) This theory is often compared to an onion because of the layers are similar to the different levels of self-disclosure that create new levels of closeness. Almost any relationship can be evaluated using the Social Penetration Theory with the exception of people such as family members. Just in
Alcohol can alter the relationship between others and oneself and impact their values currently and in the future. According to the National Institutes of Health, teenagers who drink an excessive amount of alcohol will go through five stages. The first stage is they spend more time with their friends who drink and will prefer partying than having a long term relationship (Website 5). Friend groups are based on interests and hobbies, and therefore it is normal to surround yourself with people who have that common interest. However with alcohol, it is simply making the addiction worse. The second stage is they begin to neglect school and work by showing up late or not at all and will not attempt to complete assignments for class (Website 5).
For most students, college is the first time as young adults that they are out on their own. The mind-boggling tasks of doing laundry or cleaning a sink can put an overwhelming stress on first year college students, not to mention the more challenging Gen-Ed courses and graduate class work. Additionally, these problems have roughly contributed to 36.4% of student’s depression and anxiety (Top 5 Mental Health Challenges Facing College Students). Subsequently, the strain put on these young adults, countless students seek a way to relieve stress by turning to their peers, and together, participate in underage binge drinking. Likewise, more than 150,000 students develop an alcohol-related health problem and 25% of college students have reported academic consequences as a result of their alcohol consumption (College Drinking). In addition, even though students tend to have extra free time, more often than not, students do not obtain the two and half hours of exercise recommended a week, which consequently, adds to poor health. Although there are numerous problems that college students face, there are constantly a variety of
Starting out in college produces some natural social anxiety for many students. The temptation to drink is strong because college students find that alcohol makes socializing easier. Not all college students immediately start binge drinking and doing drugs, but routinely drinking to have more fun leads many students toward addiction. When I first started college at 17, I was already drinking alcohol on a regular basis. While in school I continued drinking and it only got worse as time went on. I ended up drinking on a daily basis, and consuming high quantities of alcohol. I was still going to all my classes and getting A's and B's and also working full time, but staying motivated to continue with school became more and more difficult for me. I stopped going to college when I was 22 because my "partying" was more important at that time.
One of the ways students attempt to alleviate this stress is by partaking in alcohol consumption. More than 40% of college students drink excessively leading to academic difficulties (Perkins, 1992). The act of drinking in the college environment is one that is socially acceptable behavior. Those who engage in this type of behavior belief that by drinking they will diminish the discomfort they feel in the social situation. Alternative reasons to the decision to consume alcohol are they like to drink and to fit in. They adopt the idea that if they conform to the expectancy of the room then there are no reasons to feel anxious. Moderation is not something expressed in a drinking setting leading to an individual being unaware of the effects that a certain
For example, results from the 2010 National College Health Assessment (NCHA) survey revealed that 0.6% of students reported academic performance issues as a result of a sexually transmitted infection and 11%, 1.1% and 18.2% of students reported that relationship difficulties, pregnancy and anxiety, respectively, affected their academic performance (ACHA, 2010). Furthermore, DeBerard et al (2004) also found that health behaviors (such as smoking and binge drinking), physical and mental health quality of life, coping strategies and perceptions of social support among college freshmen were related to, and are in fact predictive of, academic performance. Persistence is, in turn, influenced by academic performance (Lotkowski, Robbins & Noeth, 2004).
Having social support such as a social support group or network will have a positive impact on your overall health/wellness and psychological well-being. “A social support network is made up of friends, family and peers.” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015) Going to the gym and taking group classes, volunteering somewhere new, and even enrolling in school again are all good ways to meet new people and increase your social groups. Having good friends that you can speak to and confide in can help reduce stress. It helps to have someone to turn to in a time of need or even just someone that will listen when you need to talk. In order to keep your friends, you have to be a good friend in return. “Research shows that those who enjoy high levels of
Ever since I’ve come to college my whole life has changed. Living on my own is fun but I miss being back home. I hate having to do my own laundry and clean my room, I miss my mom doing those things for me. I’ve made many new friends that I hang out with everyday and we’ve become extremely close. I think I like them so much because they remind me of my friends from back home. The work is also a lot harder than high school and it is very stressful. Once I finish all the work that I have to do I like to party to get my mind off of it.
However, even though socialization is vital in the life of a college student, there may still be certain students who just prefer to be isolated every day. One reason that may affect the lack of social integration is the academic performance of the students (Gerdes & Malinckrodt, 1994). In addition, McBroom (1997) reported eleven factors related to the academic success of the students, and three of the factors are concerned with socialization which are contact with peers, engaging in extracurricular activities, and assertiveness (as cited in Almog, 2011).
Those who value both their family and friendship relationships enjoy greater health and higher happiness. While no one should solely rely on friendships, these do have an impact on a person's well-being. This gives a better understanding and allows a person to thrive both physically and mentally. Just as with family relationships, having good friends can enhance the ability to cope with stress and learn how to grow as a person. College is a time for change. For most people it is a time when they find their way and become more independent. They will seek out new things, make mistakes, and learn how to manage time and energy. When life becomes stressful it will cause the need to rely on friends that are going through the same thing. When meeting back up with old friends, they may seem more mature or completely different. The way college changes friendships will be different for everyone. No two friendships are alike, so separation of going to college will affect everyone differently. Some friends will stay close so there will not be many changes and they will probably still text every day. While others will drift apart and might not even talk at all. College students will make new friends, maybe a new roommate, people in their classes, or in the cafe. There are a lot of opportunities to meet new people. Even with old friends in college, those friendships might change and meeting new people will cause one to grow