STUDENT STRESS

Going to college has been likened to “crossing into a new culture,” and there are unique challenges and stressors that students face.  Similar to going to live in another country, students must learn new customs and traditions, new ways of doing things, a new language, and must leave comfortable and familiar surroundings.  This can cause a high level of stress for students, many of whom have left their support system behind to live in a place where they know few people.

Coping with Homesickness

Homesickness is one of the most common problems facing college students which is understandable given that you are separated from your friends and family and learning to live in an entirely new environment.  When undergoing a great deal of change in your life, it is helpful to have the comfort and security of your home base remaining stable and consistent.  Moving from home to college can disrupt this sense of safety.
  While this can an existing and challenging time in your life, you may be missing your friends and family at home with whom you normally share these events.  You may have also lost your sense of belonging while you struggle with finding a way to fit in with and navigate your new surroundings.

Often homesickness doesn’t hit until a few weeks or maybe a month after you have moved, as the first few weeks are filled with meeting new people, social activities, and unpacking.  After the dust settles, some people begin to feel lonely and alone.

Relationship Problems

Along with homesickness, another very common stressor for students is relationship problems.  Often students are separated by long distances from their best friends and romantic partners.  While it can be difficult to maintain long distance relationships, it is not impossible.  Studies show that the key to long distance relationships is communication.  The quality of long distance relationship is increased if you both committed to each other, you can talk openly about your concerns, feelings , and fears, and you can agree on the rules of the relationship such as dating other people.  In addition, there needs to be a strong level of trust between the couple, as this is often tested in long distance relationships.  Both of you will change and it is important that you share these changes s that you can grow together, not apart.  Communicate how often you will see each other, call or e-mail, and focus on spending quality time together.

It can be beneficial to have your friends visit you at college (rather than you going home) so that they can interact with you in your new environment and meet your new friends.  Often students feel as though they live in two worlds, home and school, and it can be stressful to negotiate going from one to the other.  The more you can connect these two worlds, the less stress you will experience.  So it can be helpful to share what you are doing in your day – activities around campus, details of your classes, even who ate lunch with – with your friends and family back home, and ask the same about them.

Balancing Work, Home, and School

It is estimated that about three-quarters of students work alone with going to college and more students are working full-time to pay for the cost of tuition.  In addition, it is estimated that between 5 to 10 percent of college students also have children.  This, of course, adds more stress to a student’s life in balancing time for school, children, work, and household responsibilities.  This is partly as a result of a nationwide trend of more women in their mind twenties or older who are starting or returning to college.  In fact, a national study by the University of Michigan showed that the number of full-time female students over 25 years old grew by 500% over the past 30 years.

While some campuses offer child care, many do not and this leaves students having to coordinate schedules and juggle responsibilities even more, causing potentially more stress.  Also the cost of child care can be exorbitant for some and can certainly add to financial worries.  Managing your time well and having a strong support system is essential for students with children, particularly single parents.  Often there is little to no time available for relaxation, socializing, or exercising, and so employing these stress relief strategies can be challenging.

Test Anxiety

You have studied for the test you are about to take and are well prepared.  You look at the first test question and suddenly your mind goes blank.  The harder you try to think, the more nervous and distressed you feel.  You just can’t think clearly and feel like you have some type of mental block-what is happening?  One-fifth of students experience these feelings, referred to as test anxiety.  

Exams are one of the greatest sources of stress for college students.  The physical sensations associated with test anxiety are similar to those of general anxiety, such as fidgeting, having the feelings of butterflies in your stomach, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, nausea, tension in your neck, back, jaw and shoulders, headaches, sweaty palms, and feeling shaky.  People suffering from test anxiety make more mistakes on their tests, don’t read the test accurately, and tend to make simple mistakes, such as spelling errors or adding something incorrectly.  Many don’t pace themselves well, and have a hard time finishing exams.  Test anxiety is a form of performance anxiety, as people anticipate that they will perform poorly on the test.

Speech Anxiety

Speech anxiety, or fear of public speaking, is one of the most common anxiety disorders.  Since students are frequently requires to give oral presentations, expected to engage in class discussion, and graded on class participation points, this can present a problem for some.

In addition to the basic stress management techniques, it is also advised to do the following in coping with speech anxiety:

·         Volunteer to go first.  It is advisable to go first since anxiety is dealt with best by taking action.  The pressure and expectations tend to mount with each person that takes a turn.  Another advantage is that your performance is judged on its own merit without being compared to anyone else.

·         Practice in front of a mirror and for your friends.  Solicit feedback: do you need to slow down or to speak louder?  This will also help you to remember your talk so that you aren’t reading it word for word which can seem less interesting to your audience.

·         Engage in positive visualization.  Taking deep, comfortable breaths, imagine yourself giving your speech with confidence and receiving positive feedback and compliments regarding your performance.

·         Vary your presentation style and format.  Use visuals such as slides, illustrations or photographs and engage your audience in discussion so that they are an active not a passive part of your presentation.

Math Anxiety

Another common stressor for college students is math anxiety.  Math anxiety is an intense emotional feeling of anxiety that some people have about their ability to understand mathematics.  People who suffer from math anxiety feel that they are incapable  of performing well in activities and classes that involve math.  The incidence of math anxiety among college students has risen significantly over the last decade.  Many students have even chosen their college major on the basis of how little math is required for the degree.  Math anxiety has become so prevalent on college campuses that many schools have designed classes and special counseling programs to help math-anxious students.  Typically, people with math anxiety have the potential to perform well in math and it is more of a psychological, rather than intellectual, problem.

Students who fear math often avoid asking questions to save embarrassment, sit in the back of the classroom, fail to seek help from the professor, and usually put off studying math until the last moment.  All of these negative behaviors are intended to reduce the student’s anxiety but actually result in more intense anxiety.  

However, you can take a number of positive steps to facilitate learning and performance in math classes.  A student can use a number of the following strategies to overcome math anxiety.

1.       Be sure to have developed a solid arithmetic foundation.  As complex concepts build cumulatively on more simplistic ones, a remedial course or short course in arithmetic is often a significant first step in reducing the anxiety response to math.

2.       If you have a choice, take an easier, slower math course as opposed to a faster paced, more challenging one.  It is better to stack the odds in your favor than to risk reinforcing your negative experiences with math.

3.       Be aware of thoughts, feelings, and actions as they are related to math.  Cultivate positive math talk rather than self-defeating, negative statements.

4.       There is safety in numbers!  Math anxiety is learned and reinforced over a long period of time and may take time to eliminate.  You can reduce your anxiety with the help of a tutor, studying with a friend, or talking with your instructor.

5.       Sit near the front of the class where you will experience fewer distractions and feel more a part of what is being discussed.

6.       If you have questions or can’t keep up with the instructor ask for clarification and to repeat something you missed.

7.       Review the material.  As with most things, skill in math comes from practice and repetition.  Make sure you review the material covered in that class, and identify questions you need to ask the instructor as soon as possible after the class.  Research shows that you will remember 50 percent of what you heard in class if you review it immediately after class, but only 20 percent is retained 24 hours later if you don’t review it right away.

Stress and Learning

How does stress affect learning?  Research suggests that people that are highly anxious tend to perform better than others at simple learning tasks but less well than others at difficult tasks, particularly with reasoning activities and time-limited tests.  An interesting study was conducted that showed college students with average scholastic ability earned significantly better grades when they had low levels of anxiety as compared to highly anxious average students.  When you are more stressed or anxious, you have a diminished ability to concentrate, to recall information, and to engage in problem-solving activities.  You may find yourself reading the same page in your textbook over and over again and not knowing what you read.