Now it is the start of the new semester, and many of us have new responsibilities we have to deal with depending on how many classes we choose to take this semester.
Some people can manage to have eight classes. Some can only manage to have three classes.
Everyone has different priorities they have to face for this semester. Even though students don’t always have the same responsibilities, we all have one thing in common – general stress.
As students, we all experience stress in one way or another. You may have heard students having to pull all-nighters just to study for a test the next day.
Others become debilitated and do not study at all. It is a fact that each of us experiences stress in different ways in our lives.
Georgia State University has a research center in counseling and psychological services dedicated to solving problems related to stress, the Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience.
This research group’s sole purpose is to process the different multidisciplinary approaches to understand generalized stress and coping with it.
Learning to cope with stress is important because students have to juggle a lot in college. In every class, we have to deal with various responsibilities expected of students. We have to do textbook reading. We have to do different types of homework, finish assignments, and study for exams and quizzes.
Balancing stress is a skill that students need to learn and more than facing your priorities head-on.
It also means knowing what you can and cannot do in a day. Many people think managing stress is just balancing your responsibilities in your life. However, it can be more difficult that way. Managing stress is also doing self-care for yourself. It isn’t just work and no play. Sometimes you have to know your limits for that particular day.
Stress can affect more than your mental health. According to the Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience, stress can affect our physical, mental and occupational functioning that affect our health and health-related outcomes.
If we do not manage our stress properly and healthily, we can experience different health outcomes. Many people get physically ill if they are under intense stress. People can get colds, headaches, or even fevers from the pressure they are not managing properly.
Stress management is something we all have to do. We do not wake up one day and become a master of a skill. It takes a lot of patience and practice to master. Even in the real world, we have to learn how to manage different stress management skills because anything can cause stress.
It is essential to manage your stress correctly to avoid these things from happening to you. Stress will always be there with us, but the more we practice driving it, the easier it is to live with it.
