College is said to be the best four years of your life, the 48 months in which you are surrounded by your closest friends, you get to experience your first taste of independence, and you are constantly absorbing new information to add to your growing repertoire of knowledge.
What goes unsaid on those pretty little pamphlets that appear on each college admission’s desk is the unbearable amount of stress that you are, inevitably, going to feel more often than not while you’re attending college. That’s not to say that college isn’t fun -- it holds true to its title as being the most exciting time that has yet been experienced. But nothing fun comes without some sort of expense.
It’s hard to prepare for the impending stress that you are bound to feel as you get further along in the semester -- and even more stress as you finish your freshmen year and move upwards towards upperclassman status. Every time you think you’ve reached a point of relaxation, another paper comes along, another presentation to prepare for unveils itself, another exam pops up within the next week.
Statistically speaking, college students, nowadays, are experiencing higher stress levels than ever before. In a 2008 study by The Associated Press and mtvU, (here), 80 percent of college students say that they sometimes, or frequently, experience stress in their daily lives -- a 20 percent increase since 2002.
It’s hard to imagine the stress levels today, eight years after this most current study took place. What’s even scarier is that with high stress levels comes increased levels of anxiety, depression and even thoughts of suicide.
In the same study, the researchers found that 34 percent have felt depressed at some point, 13 percent have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder -- such as anxiety disorder or depression -- and nine percent have seriously considered suicide in the past year.
College students across the country are afflicted by these symptoms as the demand for the best, brightest, most involved and highest credentialed scholars battle for the internship and job opportunities in the cutthroat job market of 2016. What’s worse is that there seems to be no end in sight for this exponentially growing trend of stress levels in college students. The demands will continue to get higher, and there will be no slowing down by any college student who is aiming for a well-paying job upon graduation.
We are known to be the "generation of anxiety," and rightfully so, given all of the deadlines that need to be met, internships that must be experienced, and fun that must be had in order to balance out a complete, fulfilling college life -- while also keeping the main goal in mind at the end of the journey which, of course, is to gain a great job with tons of helpful connections.
The next question that must be considered, besides one that regards the next step in our lives is, When will the stress trend lines decrease? Better yet, when will be able to experience college without the overwhelming sense of stress that constantly follows us?
