Over the past few decades, there has been a dramatic shift in college experience and job opportunities: College tuition has spiked, students have to work more to pay for their education, there are new fields of study and discoveries that hadn’t existed previously, and there are new standards in order to be deemed successful in each respective field. There is no doubt that college age students, roughly aged 18-22, would start to feel this pressure as it coincides with other constant pressures such as moving out, being financially independent, and having a new social freedom. However, for some people it can prove to be too much. It was found in Brougham’s (2009) study that both college men and women are very likely to use avoidance and self-punishment …show more content…
As far as mental behaviors, organization is a key in managing stressors. In Misra and McKean’s study (2000), it was found that there was a strong correlation between stress, time management, and perceived academic stress. In addition to mental behaviors, physical behaviors hold equal importance, especially in the case of healthy habits. To reference back to Brougham’s (2009) study again, he stated, “students who reported higher levels of stress also consumed a greater amount of ‘junk food,’ were less likely to exercise, and less likely to obtain adequate amounts of sleep”. Supporting this evidence, Kandiah (2006) reports that in her study of college women, 81% reported a change in eating habits when they are stressed. Not only can stress effect eating habits, it can also effect sleeping habits, as found in Pilcher and Walter’s (2010) experiment where students were more confused and despite putting forth all of their effort, they were not performing as well as normally sleeping students. Bringing all of this evidence together, it is important that health habits like eating and sleeping change, because even though they may seem unrelated, they can create a cycle of bad performance and stress if not recognized and fixed soon enough. Therefore, by correcting these emerging problems, we can create better-prepared and healthier young adults to help …show more content…
Encouraging enrollment in these classes could include offering them similar to a freshman seminar course where students earn a credit for taking it, or having “bribes” like extra credit or prizes. On the task of healthy habits, schools would be increasing healthy coping options for students around the time of stressful testing, particularly midterms and finals. Late night study events could be a program suggestion, while it casts aside healthy sleeping habits it can provide healthy snacks such as fruit and low sugar cereal for students who would be awake and eating junk food anyway. Another program could be a meditation or yoga class, because it is using low to moderate exercise as a healthy coping method. For students who are particularly struggling mentally, schools could also have a 24/7 hotline where students can talk to someone about their concerns anonymously. All of these ideas are on par with some Chicago Department of Public health programs like after school programs, domestic violence hotlines, and job training for ex-offenders; which means that they are within the capabilities of the
William Zinsser’s essay “College Pressures” emphasizes the struggles students have in trying to conquer the college milestone in life. Zinsser believes that college has lost the authenticity of the overall goal of gaining knowledge for one’s own interest, rather than the overall need of going. He sympathizes with struggles college kids go through and hopes to provide insight on the overall situation. One of his major points are that succeeding the first time is not always the best way in learning, and that sometimes students need to fail in order to properly learn. The author mentions the “Four pressures, economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure” and how there are “No villains; only victims” that fall
In “College Pressures” from The Seagull Reader: Essays, William Zinsser examines the societal ideology of obtaining a degree from a university being the only path to financial and social success. Zinsser also discloses to his audience the encumbrances that college students face while enrolled in a higher education facility. The author’s main point is that college students should not be heavily pressured throughout their college career, for college is a time to relish the educational experience that comes with higher education. In his referential essay that is developed by description, William Zinsser effectively uses emotional appeal and rhetorical questions.
Many students who feel the pressure to succeed at the high school level have an unhealthy amount of stress. Students who feel this have been cheating, pulling all nighters, becoming depressed, and seeking relief in drug use, and self mutilation. On average in a recent study at Illinois high school students spend 3.07 hours of homework each night on just homework not including extra curricular activities(Jerushapope,2). Also in this high school students reported getting 6.8 hours of sleep each night, but 34.6% reported getting 6 or fewer hours of sleep(Jerushapope,2). Most high school students spend 2 hours of extra curricular activity each night thats not including homework so after those activities you have to come home and do homework and then you will not have a lot of time to sleep. Also most kids do not get a lot of time to spend with their parents during the weeknights. Some kids cannot even make it to the dinner table because they have so much homework and that is not healthy for the parents and their childs relationship. In ...
The sleep deprivation, stress, and lack of exercise all resort back to the issue of food options that are accessible to students. It is evident that students are affected by stress and lack of sleep using food as a coping mechanism. This goes back to the unhealthy foods that are provided on campus that students have easy access to during these periods of time. All of these unhealthy and unlimited food choices offered add to the difficulty that student have making time for working out because of daily burnouts. These unhealthy foods students are eating only hinder students more, reducing the energy levels in students even more.
With the stress among college students at an all-time high, depression and stress has become another factor for college dropouts. Particularly, college freshmen are the ones more exposed to depression and stress. A 2014 research on more than 150,000 college freshmen found out that 9.5 percent of respondents had frequently felt depressed during their college year.4 Studies also showed that students are studying more and socializing less which can affect their mental health and cause them to feel under pressure. Some students have bad sleeping habit which can lead to unproductiveness and insomnia, this can lead to severe mental problems. It is critical for students to establish a balance between college and social life and also get enough sleep. Also, they must seek medical treatment and reach out for therapists to deal with college
College students seem to worry too much about their futures and how financially sound they want to be when they graduated from college. Therefore, this unnecessary worry has hindered many students from channeling their positive energy into something they love to do. They think they need to have it all figured out now. Thus, they forget to take creative classes that will aid in open-mindedness. William Zinsser, the author of “College Pressures”, speaks about the four types of pressures on college students. These pressures are economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It is however common to see some of these pressures affect college students. I believe that some college students if not all can relate to all of the aforementioned pressures.
College Student and Stress Without stress, life is empty. No matter where we go, stress will always be there. Stress is a big problem for college students. The first year of college is a new adventure, but there are a few challenges on the way. On a college campus, a student’s life changes — behavior, academic performance, career or major choice, and values.
As a student, it is important to be proactive in finding ways to better ones self mentally, physically and emotionally. The ability to focus while studying, along with stress and time management are key elements to successfully adapting to the lifestyle of a student. Determining factors that will effectively enhance one’s ability to learn and to manage the way stress is relieved will make a positive impact on a student’s performance and their success. Today’s students are commonly faced with factors that limit their potential and have a negative impact on their performance, such as stress. The ideal situation is to discovery activities and techniques that enhance the ability of students and individuals to manage their time
It seems as though the majority of college students these days aren’t looking to further their education because it’s what they really want, they do it to please their parents, to be accepted by society, or because there’s nothing else for them to do (Bird, 372). These expectations have led to students being unhappy and stressed, and have pushed them into a school or a job that they don’t particularly care for.
Glenn Altschuler addresses the difficulties and conundrums associated with entering college in his article “Adapting to College Life in an Era of Heightened Stress” He presents the experience of Kate Wilkinson and her feeling of unpreparedness for college. Glenn brings together statistical evidence to show how students are more stressed today than any time in the past. Glenn presents many solutions to decrease stress and uses Henry David Thoreau’s short story “Walden” as a basis of how stressed students should come back to a state of relaxation by meditating on what really matters in life.
Studies have shown that many college students are not able to handle the stress while in school, which hinders the ability for the brain to act in a normal way (Shahrokh and Hales, 2003). If a person is unable to deal with the stress that one is being faced with, it will have negative consequences in terms of causing several psychological disorders (Canby et al., 2014). Entering post-secondary education is a completely new environment for students, as it can be tough for many to adjust to the new surroundings. There are many factors that cause stress when students enter college, as it can include having the ability to deal with lower marks (Struthers et al., 2000) and having to create a new social life. Once and if a social life is established, it can cause more stress among students because it can lead into peer pressure that results in risky behavior. In particular, peer pressure can cause alcoholism or drug abuse (Seiffge-Krenke, 1990) or it can also cause unprotected sex. Not only does stress revolve around peer-pressure, but it can also be caused by headaches and lack of energy. If a student is constantly staying up late to finish assignments or to study, it can cause headaches from the lack of sleep; thus causing stress. With all the given factors, it can be hard to overcome these external factors which can ultimately lead to stress among
National Health Ministries (2006). Stress & The College Student. The University of Illinois at Chicago. http://www.uic.edu/depts/wellctr/docs/Stress%20and%20the%20College%20Student.pdf
Everyone deals with stress at some point in his or her life. Most people deal with it daily. As defined in the book called Principles and Labs for Fitness and Wellness, stress is, “The mental, emotional, and physiological response of the body to any situation that is new, threatening, frightening, or exciting” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). This stress is caused by a stressor, which is also known as “a stress-causing event” (Hoeger & Hoeger, 2012). Stressors can take all different forms, from moving to a new town, having a baby, or even writing a paper (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). One major stressor in life can be going to college. If not coped with properly, these stressors can leave a person with too much stress that could end up harming them mentally and physically, such as developing an illness (Boyd, Wood, & Wood, 2011). There are several ways to cope with stress. Some healthy ways to cope with stress would be practicing emotion-focused coping, building time-management techniques, and practicing meditation.
Are the new standards and expectations the world has for teenagers really creating monsters? The amount of stress that is put on students these days between trying to balance school, homework, extra curricular activities, social lives, sleep and a healthy lifestyle is being considered as a health epidemic (Palmer, 2005). Students are obsessing over getting the grades that are expected of them to please those that push them, and in return, lose sleep and give up other aspects of their lives that are important to them such as time with friends and family as well as activities that they enjoy. The stress that they endure from the pressures of parents, teachers, colleges, and peers have many physical as well as mental effects on every student, some more harmful than others. The extreme pressure on students to get perfect grades so that they will be accepted into a college has diminished the concept of actually learning and has left the art of “finagling the system” in order to succeed in its place (Palmer, 2005). There are many ways that should be implemented in order to reduce the stress on students so that they can thrive because, withoutthem, the school systems will only be creating generations of stressed out, materialistic, and miseducated students (Palmer, 2005).
College is a time of extreme stress due to societal and parental pressures. College students have expectations they have to live up to in order to fulfill and satisfy the needs of both their parents and society. Stress is expressed through a variety of symptoms that can be hazardous to student’s physical and mental health. With such high expectations to do well during college, students may become sleep deprived, which impairs mental capacity, but sleep deprivation is only one of a vast array of symptoms. Stress is present in all aspects of life and there are multiple causes of stress, especially, during the college period which may present itself through many symptoms, but with stress, there are also various coping methods to help students deal with it.