When I was a senior in high school and I was committed to college, I thought I knew what I wanted. When everybody asked me what I was going to school for, easy, "Physical Education" I would reply. Now, it's not even month 4 of college and i've never been more confused. I'm writing this to you, you confused, helpless 18 year old college student. I thought Physical Education was what I wanted, now i'm trying to also fulfill my dreams of traveling the world in-between. How on Earth do I even do both?
It's okay to be confused. It is also okay to be stressed.
First, relax and breathe. Accept that you're stressed, and try to calm yourself down. This moment in time you are stressed, but you won’t feel this way forever. Things will only get better.Staying organized is one of the best ways to organizing your thoughts. It gives me a sign of relief after I write down all my to do's for the day, goals for the week, and even things I want to accomplish for my future or need to do in order to be successful. You can create a journal of your own and make it personalized however you'd like.
Do not stress eat or become lazy. I know being confused can leave you down in the dumps. It is guaranteed, getting a good night sleep, a great workout, and all the nutrients you need will give a good kick start to your day and head you into the right direction! Meditation, yoga, smoothies, spa day, or even being around animals, anything that'll bring down your stress level!
Trying something new or picking up a new hobby can also take away from the confusion you may be experiencing.
Remind yourself why you’re there. Remember why you’re studying and cramming. Pull an all-nighter to catch up, but then allow yourself to catch up on sleep. Reward yourself with days when you do nothing. It’s not wasting a day to allow yourself to breathe every once in a while.However, it's completely OK to have our moments of pure, raw emotion. It's OK to cry. It's OK to scream. We cannot continuously withhold such strong emotions and expect to be fine and able to move about our days normally. Sometimes, we just have to let it all out.
If you don’t like something, change it. People say they don’t have time and that they can’t make a difference. Yes you can, you just have to actually try. Stop thinking you can’t and just simply do it.
There's so much stress that's put on students to know exactly what they want to do for the rest of their lives by the time they're a freshman in college. The truth is, you college major doesn't define you and doesn't mean that you're stuck with that for the rest of your life.
A lot of the stress we deal with also comes from feeling alone. It's hard to make friends in an environment filled with people that are trying to be independent. Also, having so much responsibility is terrifying. You are basically in charge of your future right now. When a year ago you had to ask your teacher if you could go to the bathroom.
Stress is unfortunately, inevitable and will probably continue to increase as I enter adulthood. However, I have come to realize that sometimes the smallest things can make a difference. Life is too short to be stressed out all the time, so take a moment and relax!
