On the first day of my senior year of college, I did what any stressed student does: I called my mom. I told her the reasons for my stress, which always seem to be financial-related. She came up with a clear solution and told me one simple yet mind-blowing piece of advice: be proactive.
That's what being back at college is about. The stress, the grades, the new classes and new professors. Those long hikes to class under the bright fall sun or the parking pass you'll have to acquire. Textbooks the size of your head that cost more than a cellphone. It's a hideous, wild world of survival of the fittest, and the only way to persevere is to be proactive.
Productivity breeds success. The more I take charge and act to achieve something, the more rewarding it feels. And success can come in any form. Maybe you got up despite being exhausted and you took a shower. Perhaps you stayed behind after class to introduce yourself to your professor. Or maybe, like me, you gathered up the last of your courage and talked to the financial aid office by yourself.
Either way, the goal is to avoid any abundance of stress. Let's face it, there's no special way to avoid anxiety. We can take soothing baths, or take a nap, or we can even eat our favorite snack. In the end, though, there's not much that can be done about anxiety besides counseling and medication. While I do recommend seeing your university counselor or therapist if the stress becomes too much, you can always try to remove the stress yourself.
On the first day of my senior year of college, my roommate cried at work because of how stressed her classes made her feel. The reading requirement was too much, and she despised the unsettling weight of these higher level classes. So without hesitation she made an appointment with her adviser, she got up early the next day, and she dropped two classes. In return, she added two classes that seemed lighter. At the end of the day, she felt relief. She had removed the stress by herself.
This is what college is about: making your way to your goals without crashing first. Suicide on college campuses is an active, persisting issue. Freshmen feel isolated and scared of the unknown, while seniors feel the heavy pressure of their nearing fates. The causes of stress among college students range heavily, indicating that there's never one clear answer.
My advice to you, college student or not, is to eliminate the stress before it becomes too much. Eradicate the cause of your anxiety. Do not let it dictate how you live. If you actively try to fight against the stress and it does not work, see a counselor. College is useful and fun, but it's not worth a terrible decrease in mental health.
On the first day of my senior year of college, I realized that college can be traumatizing for millennials who're drowning in debt, burdened by obtaining jobs in a disastrous economy. However, if you get through it, college can and will be rewarding.
Carpe diem!
