Some people deal with a mid-life crisis, while others, such as students at the University of Central Florida, deal with the mid-semester struggle of homework, projects, and preparing for midterms. Many students are feeling the stress factor kick into high gear. They are finding positive outlets to relieve some of the stress until they conquer those exams and projects. Some students are even planning what they’re going to do once it is all over and they can finally relax. It might be hanging out with friends or catching up on some much needed sleep.
Papers and critiques can bump the stress meter to a higher notch. Priscilla Diaz, 21, is a creative writing major and is stressed over homework on top of a huge paper due in one of her classes.
“I have a theory paper due. It’s taking up a lot of my time,” Diaz said. To relieve some of the stress, she’ll listen to music or play sports such as basketball with her dad. After she turns her paper in, she plans to watch anime and take a break.
Richard Patton, 32, is also a creative writing major. He is frustrated over the number of critiques he has to do between his classes. He’s also frustrated with a project he’s working through.
Patton is struggling, working on the project with a partner that doesn’t always attend class. “I can still get my project done. It just won’t be as good for me in the long run if they don’t do anything,” Patton said.
“After I’m done with that, I think I’m going to take a nap. Actually, I probably won’t. I’ll probably do something else. I’ll probably play a video game, so I can get stressed over that,” Patton said.
Other students, like Monique Stewart, 26, are dealing with the pressure of finding internships and tackling big projects at the same time. Stewart, a public administration major, said the biggest thing stressing her out right now is a manuscript. Once she’s done with her manuscript and has found an internship, Stewart plans to have a glass of wine.
Math classes can also be frustrating for those in the math and science or engineering majors. Drew Koers, 19, is a mechanical engineering major. He’s currently stressing out over midterms and his Calculus II class. Bradley Thompson, 21, is a statistics major and he’s focused on his midterms coming up. In order to cope with the stress, both Thompson and Koers said they go to the gym.
Jasmine Zanibi, 19, said she feels the pressure to study more for her next test due to a poor grade on the previous one.
“I’m going to study a lot more,” Zanibi said.
Studying and dealing with the added stress that comes along with the middle of the semester can take up a lot of time. Students are doing their best to take care of themselves while working hard to tackle the multiple projects, homework assignments, papers and upcoming midterms.
