By Danielle Brooks | Staff Writer|

College is bound to be stressful, but there are plenty of coping mechanisms that can relieve the stress, making your college years more enjoyable.

The typical path for a college student is to attend class, earn good grades, and graduate in four years.

Although this sounds easy, there are many factors that can make achieving these goals difficult.

“It’s really hard to manage going to school and working because they both take up a lot of my time. To relieve stress, I hang out with my sorority sisters at my house,” said student Amanda Ostrander.

“The thing that stresses me out the most is registering for classes. It’s hard to get the classes that I need and that has a huge impact on when I will be graduating,” said student Joanna Ayon.

Students that work, live on their own, or pay their way through school may have additional stress added to their lives.

One of the best ways to relieve stress is by exercising. Exercising “boosts your feel-good endorphins and distracts you from daily worries,” according to Mayo Clinic.

“When I’m feeling stressed, I like to go to the gym. Exercising makes me feel like I’m releasing negative energy and makes me feel better about the craziness going on in my life at the time,” added Ayon.

A little stress can be good for you, but prolonged stress may lead to depression, anxiety disorders, or suicidal thoughts; so, it is important to know how to cope with stress.

A survey conducted in the Spring 2013 edition of the National College Health Assessment announced that 46.3 percent of undergraduate students, at an average age of 21, felt overwhelmed by their academic load.

“I’m working two jobs and going to school trying to make it on my own. Sometimes I feel like there’s just not enough time in the day to get everything I need to do done,” said student Jessica Valencia.

According to collegeparents.org, the most common way for students to relieve their stress is through their peers, with a whopping 84 percent of students confiding in their associates to help them out with their stress.

“My friends can usually tell when I’m feeling stressed out, so we’ll either go to the beach or Disneyland to let off some steam,” added Valencia.

“When I’m stressed from midterms, my favorite thing to do is go out with some buddies for some drinks,” said student Xavier Hernandez.

A simple way to prevent stress is to work on improving time management skills.

Developing time management skills can help reduce stress for both male and female college students, according to the American Journal of Health Studies.

 

 

Although, our number one priority as college scholars is academics, it’s important to enjoy other aspects of college and not let the stress get the best of us.