M Puno English 114 501 Kathy Parrish Oct. 10, 2017 College Students and Stress Adult Learning is affected by our ability to manage stress. Stress comes in many forms. Things like our environment, physiological well-being, thoughts and social stresses can have an effect on our learning. The knowledge of stress’s impact on learning has resulted in a cottage industry dedicated to teaching methods of managing it. The ability to identify sources of stress and then ways to manage them are key to resolving and overcoming stress and opening our learning channels. This proves that students in college are affected negatively by having excessive stress built upon them. There are many causes that contribute to stress. According to one author, "adjusting to college can also cause stress if students feel they are not making personal connections with their peers" (Reed). Relationship stress can be caused by not living up to their partner's or roommates expectation or just plainly by breaking up with someone that they really did care for. Also, it can be caused by an individual liking someone a lot, and the finding that feeling is not mutual. All of these aspects can cause students to feel like they are in way over their heads. Roommate conflicts are also a cause of stress where they have arguments with each other, which cause stress to both parties. Another author states that, "the students are worried about their own college debt and job prospects when they graduate" (Lewin). Finances
Stress as defined by Dr. Laura A. King is “the response of individuals to environmental stressors”. The biggest types of environmental stressor that a majority of adults are facing, will face, or have faced, are college and work. College is a time in someone’s life where they are faced with what the “real world” truly is. It can be a great time in one’s life where they have the opportunity to meet new people, experience new things, and find themselves for who they truly are. It is also a time where people are spending hundreds of dollars, they don’t have, on books, housing, rentals, classes, and so much more; they are also being shoved into a room with possibly fifty other young adults, they have never met, to learn new things or ideas and
Top performance is achieved with moderate stress at intermittent times, which grows new brain cells that better memory (Bradberry). Stress is usually thought of as damaging, but a certain amount of stress is needed to caution students that they have work to do and deadlines to meet. Having a healthy amount of stress motivates people to remind them to be working. Without enough stress, students will lose inclination to school work, and with too much stress, students can, and sometimes do, have a breakdown. The threat of a collapse means students need to have "coping strategies" that help them manage overwhelming amounts of stress (Bradberry). Moving to a new environment without family, friends, and teachers that know every students' name is stressful on its own, but college students also have to be prepared for new, tougher assignments. This is enough to make a freshman feel as though they are drowning, so every individual needs to find a way to relieve stress. There are healthy ways to relieve stress, like exercise, listening to music, or meditation, that allow students to feel comfortable in their new life. Finding a balance in life that also gives them a good attitude and confidence is worthwhile. Attitudes about their intellect can alter the ability to learn for many
Generally speaking, college requires a lot more effort from students than high school. Once you begin your college career, you will see that student’s are more motivated, professors are more demanding, and the workload is a lot more difficult. These academic standards are even more visible in graduate school. Now, although college is filled with adventurous opportunities, it can also be filled with stress. In other words, as a result of everything going on, it’s more common for college students to experience higher levels of stress related to school, work, finance, and in some cases, relationships.
College has many rewards, but it also has a whole other side that is not talked about. Stress and college seem to go together with each other. Just deciding where you want to go can be a stressful event, never mind the stress from finals or mid-terms. I am going to discuss some of the effects of stress that students have to deal with from one semester to the next.
One topic in psychology I find particularly interesting is the amount of stress that students in this generation are subjected to, specifically while in college. There are many reasons why this topic is interesting to me. The first and obvious reason is because I myself am a college student. Therefore, I have personally experienced the tremendous amount of stress that is put on students. I have also witnessed my friends and peers cope with this stress in various ways, some of which are healthy and some of which are not. I also am interested in this topic because I feel that it is universally an important topic. With the job market being so competitive, and the need for advanced degrees becoming commonplace, students are constantly focused on
Stress is unavoidable, no matter the situation, location, or time; stress is always present. Stress is found in higher levels during the duration in which students attend college. It is predictably higher among college students, freshmans in particular, because of the extreme expectations set upon them by their parents and, of course, society. The need to please their parents, longing for success in life, and being able to sustain a reasonable income in the future, all of which falls into the hands of college students who are making critical decisions which may decide the outcome for a large portion of their lives. If these students end up hating their future jobs, the stress of having to go back into college to study for a new career
Stressor-strain theory posits that presentation to stressors can adversely affect people’s wellbeing, resulting in behavioral, physical especially imperative considering a few potential stressors are ascending for college students. For instance, college students are paying more for college than any time in recent memory (Fox, Spector & Miles, 2001; Spector, 1998, p.275). Moreover, the frequency and the severity of mental health problems reported by students are expanding and advancements in technology are changing the landscape of the typical college classroom, making the study of college students ' stressors a timely and imperative issue (Kitzrow, 2009). The motivation behind this paper is to review the findings of qualitative research examining college student stressors to understand the major categories of stressors confronting college students nowadays. While the stressors that affect students ' educational life are relationships with its sub-themes and the academics.
Stress is something all college students face throughout their college years. One example is Benjamin Lyon who wrote the article, “Don’t Live Life Like Exam Week-Take Control of Stress” published by The Lantern, and argues that stress in college can affect people on their daily lives and cause severe medical conditions in the students. Stress is an emotional or mental strain experienced due to demanding circumstances. It is one of the major problems students face throughout college when they are overwhelmed with exam, projects or anything related to their education. They also face the stress of how they are going to pay their education to continue with their career. No matter what career path they are taking there is one thing for sure every
That feeling of walking back from an exam or staying up all night cramming information is well known to any student who has been through college. It leaves one feeling overwhelmed like the week will never end. The feelings are held inside while friends and roommates accuse moodiness which leads to the meltdown that is inevitable. These times are a result of a common state known as stress. Stress is a condition in which the body responds to any kind of demand or threat caused by life factors which include pressure, work, school, major changes, and lack of sleep. This factor is very common in colleges, especially freshmen and can also be seen here at Trine University. Stress can affect both physical and mental conditions in the body, such as sleep patterns, eating habits, anxiety,
The topic I chose for the informative research paper is how stress affects first year college students. I chose this topic specifically because I am a first-year student and can relate to this subject very easily. Having personal experience with how stressful being a student can be, I thought it would be beneficial for myself, as well as others, to discover the most significant factors that affect students the most (i.e. finances, time management, studying, academic pressure for a high GPA).
If stress is defined as “the physiological and psychological response to a condition [stressor] that threatens or challenges a person and requires some form of adaptation or adjustment” (Woods et al., 2014, p.336), then it can be argued that college is a perfect example of a stressor.
Stress is something that everyone has to deal with. However, as unique as each person is, so is their response to stress. This case study, entitled: Exploring the Effect of Stress on Mood, Self-Esteem, and Daily Habits with Psychology Graduate Students, was performed due to the lack of quantitative data on the subject of the effects of stress on college students. The researchers stated their hypothesis in two parts. They are: “(1) daily habits, self-esteem, and mood will significantly correlate with stress and (2) daily habits, self-esteem, and mood are significant unique predictors of stress” (McKinzie, Altamura, Burgoon, & Bishop, 2006. pg. 441). The collection of quantitative data concerning the effects of stress could help produce outcomes that can limit or stop the stress more so than qualitative data due to the fact qualitative data would be opinions and therefore could not be applied to a larger group of people. “College students, regardless of year in school, often deal with pressures related to finding a job or a potential life partner” (Ross, Niebling, & Heckert, 1999. pg. 313).
The sensitivity of the senses is dull. Mental functions like the ability to learn, remember, and concentrate are affected by insomnia. The performance level of the student in school drops.
Many High School Students are affected by different types of stress, many of which are associated with parents and educators. Students are pressured to do well in school and are bombarded with innumerable, challenging assignments, homework, and tests. These students fear failure resulting in moderate to severe stress. Tessy Jose statistically proves this when she conducted a survey for high school students. “80.2% of students experience moderate level of academic stress and only 6.2% students have severe academic stress” (Jose).
Stress is derived from many areas and can be found in just about anything. When it comes to college, stress in academics is no stranger. Students tend to find themselves dealing with not only stress, but with its relatives, anxiety and depression too. Stress and health are linked with one another. A walk around a campus reveals many different ways student’s cope with their stress.