Being a college student is often considered the best period of life. However, from a certain viewpoint, it is also one of the most difficult periods in the life of an individual; the reason for this is the lack of experience, maximalism, treatment from adults, expectations, and so on. College is a perfect stress environment, as it usually incorporates multiple major stress factors, and throws it at a student all at once.
College freshmen are, perhaps, the most vulnerable category of students. This is due to the fact that they face the social challenges that involve leaving their whole support structure behind—friends, parents, hometown, habits. Freshmen have to create new social networks, deal with having to solve their problems on their own without parents’ assistance, and so on. Naturally, this leads to stress. Additionally, bad roommates, their homework load, part-time jobs, and dealing with the dynamics of young adult relationships is incredibly difficult for people in their teenage years (About Health).
Lifestyle is also one of the major factors causing stress in students. Whenever we say “student life,” we usually imply unhealthy eating habits, late night parties, alcohol, a lack of sleep in favor of extensive studying and social activity, and so on. There is no doubt all this negatively affects the physical (and psychological) health of students. Chronic fatigue causes students to feel exhaustion, and negatively influences their performance or attendance in class. They have less energy for academic exercises, and may choose to skip classes or do homework less thoroughly, which can become an additional stress factor on its own (Livestrong.com).
Poor work and priority organization is yet another scourge for many young men and women living and studying on campuses. They are on their own now: no teachers, parents, or relatives are going to tell them what, how, and when to do activities. Because of the lack of experience, students cannot figure out what to pay attention to, and what is not urgent at the moment; how to organize their routine; how to spend less time doing mundane tasks; how to keep a balance between private and academic life, and so on. This causes frustration, poor performance, and stress. Effective ways to help it might be keeping records on what and how you do certain activities. After you see how much time this or that activity takes, you can start planning (IFR).
Being young is not only fun, but also stressful, especially when you are a college student. New social challenges combined with the absence of a habitual support network (like family or old friends), a poor and unhealthy lifestyle, and the lack of organization, often cause frustration and stress in students. The stereotype that college life is the greatest time in one’s life might be a fallacy.
References
Scott, Elizabeth. “Stress in College: Where It Comes From, and How to Manage.” About Stress. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
“What Are the Causes of Stress Among College Sudents?” Livestrong.com. N.p., 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
“Reasons of Stress Among Students.” IFR. N.p., 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2015.
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