Stress in college is inevitable. Students must balance loads of assignments, extracurricular activities, such as sports and clubs, a social life with friends, family events and obstacles, and healthy sleeping, eating, and exercise habits. College students’ stress levels are through the roof. My current stress management strategies are not very effective because I always feel stressed and overwhelmed. I usually don’t have time to relax or socialize because I have so many academic responsibilities. The rare occasions when I spare myself some free time, I enjoy being with my friends, talking and laughing with them, working out at the gym, Facetiming with family, watching TV, coloring, and one of my friends has been trying to teach me to crochet because she finds it relaxing and rewarding. I would love to spend more time doing these leisure activities, but my busy schedule infrequently allows it. When I get ahead on my assignments, which seldom happens, and partake in the activities I enjoy, they work great because I am much more relaxed. Currently, however, when I do these activities because I need a break, I often feel guilty and not productive because I could have done more work instead. I think I need to start incorporating one or two hours of free-time in my schedule because it will relieve my stress. I must stop badgering myself for taking a break because I do need it. I think I will be more willing to participate in these relaxing activities if I get ahead on my assignments. Until then, I will try to give myself an hour or two a day to relax, without feeling guilty. I think all college students need to manage their stress levels, so it does not interfere with their physical, emotional, and mental health. We all work very hard and deserve a short break every day.
First Impression Post Week 11
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Melissa's Blog 
Melissa,
This was a very great post and a really interesting read! As a current college student, I completely agree with you when you say that we are constantly overwhelmed and it seems as though we have little time to even breathe. I had not really thought about how socially, between friends and family, how difficult things are to keep up with! I had always thought of college being busy and stressful because of all of the extracurricular activities and school work itself. It had never really crossed my mind how hard it is to pick up the phone and talk to your parents or other family members for more than ten minutes or so. I do not text many people during college except for my boyfriend and brother, so I had not really thought about how this is impacting my social life as well. For example, I guess people in college have a lot less time to interact on social media, depending on how you use your time. Even if us college students manage to get our work done a little early, there’s always room for studying, so most of the time, we choose studying over relaxing. Then, it’s possible we quite nearly screw ourselves over and go to bed much later than we should. You’re very correct when you mention that students feel guilty by taking a little time off for ourselves. I feel like that is a time I personally could be donating to my studies. You do mention, however, just how important it really is. Even if we just take time for ourselves that is an hour long or so, that will do. Not only did you mention how our stress levels impact our mental health, but you also mentioned how much it affects our social and physical health as well. I had never really thought of it like that. Overall, stress is something that affects people in many ways. Going through my psychology course, I have learned that there are many different types of stress. I thought stress was its own thing. For example, I had never realized how little chores around the house can be considered stressful. I guess it makes sense as those things can add up over time. Being put in new atmospheres can also give people stress. I always thought this was considered anxiety. I guess anxiety can trigger stress, or they work together. Stress had always seemed like a bigger factor to me, but after learning more, I’ve realized that stress is so major for our age group because all these little things are adding up. We do not even realize half the time what our stress is or what is triggering it. My recommendation would be to try and find out where the stress is coming from first and then move on from there.Thank you for making me see things a little differently. This post was a big eye-opener!
P.S. It is really cool that you are getting involved in crocheting! I have heard that’s a very fun activity. Show me your first crochet project when you’re done! Or maybe write a blog post about how it helps you de-stress. (:
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