Cypress Lovette spends most of her time looking down at an assignment with her back hurting and eyes draining. From campus to her home, she spends about 20-30 hours a week analyzing her books for her chemical engineering major while managing to go to school every day.
This is Lovette’s second semester as a freshman at USF, and she is having a tough time adjusting to her new lifestyle of college life, especially taking five classes this semester that are hard. That can be a lot to juggle for anyone. Lovette is incredibly stressed due to having to stay up late on some nights making sure she is turning in her assignments on time and making sure she understands the concept.
Stress had impacted Lovette’s life due to her having to have multiple assignments due at/near the same time. She crams so much information into her brain that she becomes exhausted by how much her brain is taking in. It causes her to be tired and overwhelmed most of the time throughout the week. Lovette struggles with going to sleep every night because of the workload that comes with being a Chemical Engineer major.
“The workload is absolutely stressful,” she said. “Because being in the College of Engineering is meant to be a challenge, and it is challenging for sure.”
It is common for a college student to feel stressed from encountering some changes in their life they may not be used to. One can start to feel different emotions from time to time such as anxiety, stress, anger, and depression because they aren’t used to change or being by themselves.
Stress levels are increasing in undergraduate students due to increased responsibilities, changes in academic environment, mental health, sleeping habits and time management. It can be sensory overload.
Marla Rodriguez, a mass communication major, also encounters stress. As a college student, she worries about meeting deadlines and time management.
“I tend to stress about timeliness,” she said. “About whether I’m going to be able to finish all my assignments, get to class on time, and also get to work on time.”
Scott Strader, psychologist and director of USF Tampa Counseling Center, said stress is accompanied by a couple of factors.
“I think some individuals are really stressed by deadlines and by high-stake exams for example or some particular upcoming event that might be happening,” he said. “Other people might be stressed by the combination of things that are happening.”
Some students deal with other responsibilities outside of school such as work, extracurricular activities and personal relationships. That can also increase a student’s stress level, having a hard time balancing school and other tasks.
“When it comes to work, I do try to make sure my schedule consists of at least a Sunday off,” Rodriguez said. “Or like a day before Sunday since most projects are due on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Because I know myself, I do procrastinate, Where I can dedicate a day for schoolwork.”
“I think interpersonal kinds of stresses so whether that’s friends or romantic partners, family members even. I think it’s stress from the multiple kinds of activities people are doing, clubs and organizations they may be involved in,” said Strader. “As well as having to work outside of having to go to school. And kind of managing family stresses some people as well.”
Stress is common for most students. It is a natural emotion to go through at any point of adaptation in one’s life. Stress can affect one’s mental health and it should be taken very seriously.
“Physical health we certainly see things like difficulty sleeping, or lack of appetite, or wanting to overeat as a in response to stress. Muscle tension and muscle strain is certainly something that we see. So, you feel it in your body, your body tenses up and you can feel it that way.”
Finding ways to manage stress levels can lower an individual’s risk of getting a serious health problem. Managing your stress can also reset your mind.
“Physical exercise certainly is very important. Just being able to kind of have a balance and let out some physical tension. Said Strader. “Other coping strategies can be just learning how to manage our anxiety.”
Some tips on how to reduce stress are eating healthy, getting at least eight-ten hours of sleep, exercising, avoiding procrastination, giving yourself a break from overwhelming situations, mediating, stretching and taking deep breaths can relieve stress levels.