Stress can be very different for everyone. For me personally, my two biggest stress issues are school and relationships. It is important to me that I maintain good grades, because I want to be able to achieve my goal of becoming a radiologist. I am a full-time college student and I also work two different jobs. I never seem to get a chance to relax and have fun, because I am constantly worrying about college and work. My grades are going to affect what companies want to hire me or not. I want to make sure that I am constantly doing my best so I will have a better chance at my career. This causes a lot of stress for me because I sometimes doubt myself and my ability to achieve my goals. I also stress out about my finances. I am putting myself through college, so it is very stressful trying to make sure I have enough money to attend college, and pay off my student loans when I get out. My parents are not helping me with my finances at all. I am alone when it comes to school finances.

Relationships are another big thing I stress over. Ever since I was little, I did not have that great of a relationship with my family or friends. My parents never really wanted to talk with me about anything. Therefore, if I wanted to talk to them they would just tell me not now. Now that I want to be able to have relationships even more in my life, it is hard for me to do so. Growing up I was not allowed to speak that much, which influenced me to become closed off and shy. I also have some trust issues due to my upbringing, so I am leery of people. In almost every relationship I am very closed off because that’s all I know how to be. Yes, I know this is not right and I should not live like this, but I am working on it daily. I become very anxious when I have to speak publically and meet new people. When I become stressed by these two major stress issues in my life, I tend to not want to go anywhere or do anything. Most of the time I develop very strong and painful headaches. I also become anxious and depressed, and will just try to sleep the days away. I will usually try avoiding people when I am really stressed because I try to think out my problems. Sometimes I become so overly stressed that I begin to stress out about little things, which in the end only adds more stress on my life. After some time I realize that I stress over things that I should not be stressed about. For example, if I go over someone’s house and I need a drink or something along those lines, often times I will not ask because I feel like I will be a bother to them or upset them. Most people do not stress about simple things such as asking for a drink. These are little things I constantly stress over. When it comes to grades and school work, I stress out just as much. If I fail a test usually I will just try to get back on track instead of thinking my career is over.

Coping with my stress has always been and still remains to be something I struggle with. Usually I try to listen to relaxing music, taking a nap, going for a walk, playing a video game, but sometimes nothing seems to work. Sometimes I take on much than I can handle. So one way I think I can cut back my stress is to not take on so many tasks. That should help relieve some of the stress I feel daily. Having so much stuff to do all the time wears you down emotionally, physically, and mentally. Trying to juggle school, two jobs, finances, and relationships are the things that I seem to have on my mind constantly, and sometimes I cannot seem to stop stressing over them. If it is not one it is the other. Even when I listen to music and go for walks it still does not seem to help me. Hopefully I can learn how to cope better and be able to relieve some stress. My advice to you all is to truly learn time management and never take on too much at once. Always find time to rest when needed and you will be able to keep your stress level down.