April means comfortable temperatures, greener trees, grasses, vibrant flowers, and the sweet, seductive scents of spring. For college students, however, it also means there is one month left until finals. As a college student myself, I can vouch for most when I say the weight of the year is getting acutely heavier everyday; thus, stress is rising, if not reaching the peak because of deadlines and exam prep. Also, prevalent around spring time are the various viruses that are spreading like wildfire through campuses and dorms. The combination of high stress, low sleep or relaxation time, and high germ exposure will take a serious toll on the immune system and your brain.

Consider the scenario: you’ve got two book reviews, a 10-15 page research paper, four exams, a group project, all due around the middle of May, which is in a relatively short amount of time. You could be the best at stress management, but regardless of that, you will feel the effects of the college deadlines weighing down your mind. It can feel something like a mental downpour.

It is scientifically proven that stress of any kind can lower your body’s ability to fight off pathogens because the cells which attack viruses are largely ineffective. The University of Kentucky and the University of British Columbia has conducted approximately 300 studies on how stress affects the immune system, and they found that, “For stress of any significant duration - from a few days to a few months or years, as happens in real life - all aspects of immunity went downhill. Thus long-term or chronic stress, through too much wear and tear, can ravage the immune system,” (American Psychological Association). Studies have also shown that extensive periods of stress can increase your risk for cancer as well as decrease female fertility.

Psychology Today reported how the structure of the brain itself can even be negatively affected by stress because cortisol, in imbalanced amounts, can damage neural structures. Cortisol is a sympathetic nervous system hormone associated with anger, the fight or flight response, fear, and stress in general. The stress hormone cortisol can cause dendrites, which are the branches of neurons that communicate information to one another, to suffer temporary or even permanent damage in the wake of stress. This can affect memory, decision making, protective cells of the immune system, cause mental illnesses, and essentially rewire your brain.

It's imperative to remember that all of these effects of stress will cause you to test poorly, retrieve memories less efficiently, and basically produce the same results after a night of studying as would a night of partying. Since studying is essentially just a memory creating/retrieval process, stress is going to counteract your efforts to do so. Your brain isn't going to be useful if stress pulverizes it into a negative pile of dissatisfaction.

The question now, is how do we fight off stress?

1. Exercise. Physical activity allows for natural stress relievers to be produced by your very own brain. Endorphins are released during and after exercise which will make you feel happier and forget about everything that was causing you to stress.
2. Practice mindfulness. There is a fantastic Ted Talk by Andy Puddicombe in which he explains how doing absolutely nothing for 10 minutes, not texting, not scrolling through Twitter, not talking, no thoughts or impulses what-so-ever, will make you feel better. Meditation isn’t what some of you may think: sitting with your hands on your knees, forefinger to thumb, saying “oooohhmm”. It can be as simple as removing all self-talk, thoughts, and stimulation from your brain to allow for silence and self-repair.
3. Laugh. Meet up with one of your best friends, mom, dad, or whoever it is that makes you feel happiest by being around them. Social interaction and laughter will lighten your mood as you let go of the stress that has been bottled up in your busy head. Laughing with friends will relieve you of stress.
4. Be positive. Surround yourself with positive people and generate positive thoughts. By preventing yourself from saying "Wow, I have so much stuff to do. This sucks", and turning it into, "Once this is over with, that's one more thing I will have accomplished" will dramatically make a difference in your mood. Turning thoughts and phrases positive will generate a positive mindset, thus producing good actions, results, and academic performance.

So, control the self-talk you have during this stressful time, try to see the bright side to everything, steer conversations toward a more productive means, and everything will be in harmony with your immune system and brain. If stress management can be achieved, your mind and body will treat you like royalty, resulting in razor-sharp mental performance, a motivation boost, and of course, a fantastic end to your school year.