Students and Stress

This past week, students at Texas A&M International University had an opportunity to relieve some stress and have fun on their 2012 spring break. Students have now resumed classes and are just a few weeks away from concluding the Spring 2012 semester.  Some students will be graduating, while others will enjoy their summer and recharge their batteries for the following school year.  Yet, before the semester is over,  every student will be gearing up for the final exams.  Finals will come along with the most dreaded word by college students, stress.  On March 24, 2012, The Bridge interviewed some TAMIU students to see what are some of the things that stress them out the most and how they managed to relieve their stress.   

Handling stress is just something that requires getting used to.  When talking about what stressed him out the most, undergraduate freshmen, John Garcia mentioned, "since it's my first semester being here I still haven't gotten the hang of things, yet." The transition from high school to college can be an eye opener for many.  College and high school differ in  the intellectual level of the materials taught and can add up if one is not careful.  As undergraduate freshmen, Lilian Gaytan said, the thing that stresses her out the most is, "when your work gets piled up."  This is all part of the college experience in effort to get one ready for pursuing their desired career.  Undergraduate freshmen, Gloria Rios, stated, "in college, you always have to be thinking about what you're going to do after your degree."  Thus, emphasizing the point that college is just a time of gaining as much experience and knowledge to prepare for the real world.  

Although getting down to business is essential in college, one needs to also make time to have fun and enjoy the things pursuing a higher education has to offer.  Studying and the stress that comes with it is just one of the many parts of being a college student.  Studying can also be made interesting and even fun.  Undergraduate freshman, Kimberly Rodriguez has a rather creative and fun way to study.  She explained that her along with a friend will set up a, "study date, go over materials, share notes...joke around and get to study at the same time." so the studying won't be as stressful whenever done this way.

Drawing, exercising, and listening to music can be some of the best relievers of stress that students can take part in.  Working out could be the most common way students relieve the stress built up by the college life.  Undergraduate junior, Estyvalyz Gaytan's favorite way of relieving stress is, "going to the REC Center and doing Zumba."  College requires students to prioritize their work, meet deadlines and is mostly all business. Yet, students can't stress out over such things, they also need to relax, have fun and take some breaks.  As undergraduate sophomore, Juan Morales, stated that one important thing one must do is, "finding some downtime, to lie down, play games, get on Facebook."

As mentioned on The American Institute of Stress website, the result of the interviews just demonstrated that, "there is no definition of stress that everyone agrees on, what is stressful for one person may be pleasurable or have little effect on others...we all react to stress differently." According to Time.com Healthland, "the economy and high unemployment rate make for a scary time to be in college...college students are more stressed out than ever before."  Yet, stress is one thing that every college student will go through.  It is just an obstacle that one must adjust to and manage.

For more information on stress, please visit The American Institute of Stress at website at www.stress.org.

(Ignacio Banda can be reached at ignaciobanda@dusty.tamiu.edu)