Just a Thought…College Student Stress

Hi, this is Alexa, the new marketing and communications intern for Mindful Matters. I feel that life has

pulled me in many different directions over the past 3 years. I would like to say that it has been easy, but

unfortunately, stress has taken over many times. I wanted to share my story about stress management

in hopes that someone out there needs to hear it.

In March of 2020, I was only a few months away from high school graduation and having the best time

of my life. I just had my first dance competition and had a huge group of friends. I was a senior in high

school and all the biggest and most important events like prom and graduation were coming up. What

could go wrong?

Let’s just say a lot.

Covid put the world on pause, and I sat watching the TV every day, learning that this deadly pandemic

was rapidly sweeping the nation. I was terrified and felt like nothing was going to be normal ever again. I

was also equally upset that this disease took away the rest of my senior year.

In the months of March, April, and May of 2020, I found myself learning to cope with the stress of the

pandemic by trying new things. I turned to making bracelets, binging TV shows, going on walks with my

family, and enjoying the outdoors. I’ll be honest, I was never a lover of the outdoors until the pandemic.

I found every excuse to go outside and enjoy the warm weather and time with my family.

Now, this week we are discussing how to cope with stress in college. Coincidentally, my freshman year

of college was as unnatural as my senior year since the pandemic was still in full swing. We only had one

dining hall open, no in-person classes, no sporting events, and we had many campus-wide quarantines.

Going to college in general is already stressful, so having a nationwide pandemic mixed in with it made it

much more complicated. Dealing with the stress of being alone for the first time and teaching myself

how to start over was incredibly difficult. Something that helped me a lot was watching videos and

reading about other people’s experiences. I was able to learn that I wasn’t alone and that everyone on

campus and around the world was experiencing the same thing.

College in general is difficult. Students are faced with more homework, assignments, and projects than

they have ever had before. It was the biggest shock to go from doing nothing for 6 months to having

assignments in 6 classes. I turned to my “Big 3” of stress relief when it comes to school.

1. Take breaks

Sometimes, classwork can get the best of me. There have been many times where I almost gave up and

took the zero or F. Now, I take this as a sign to take a short break. Whether it is reading a chapter of a

book or watching an episode of my favorite show, taking a break will help to decrease stress and the

feeling of burnout. I am an advocate for taking what I call “interval breaks” which are a maximum of an

hour. I was having a really hard day recently with stress from assignment overload. I ended up taking an hour-

long nap and I was ready to get everything done right after. It is all about pacing yourself! Do not be

afraid to give yourself a brain break if you feel that you need it!

2. Stay Organized

Any of y’all out there like me – a self-proclaimed “organization freak?” I tend to be so on top of my

assignments that by Thursday of every week, I am already done with all my work. So, in this case, to

avoid assignments from piling up, I have some advice below which has helped many of my friends to

stay organized and on top of their week. Every Sunday, I look through all my classes and write down the

assignments and due dates for everything that week. Then, I assign them all a day and create my schedule.

Once the week begins on Monday, I will be able to cross off assignments once they are completed. I have put

many of my people on this method, and they find that they are able to get everything done before the

weekend. It is so satisfying being able to cross items off your list each day.

3. Create a good support system

As cringy as it sounds, I encourage freshmen to leave their doors open. I ended up meeting one of my

best friends named Callie by doing this. She lived across the hall from me, and I still live with her to this

day. Surrounding yourself with people who make you feel comfortable being yourself is so important in

college. The stress of starting over can be difficult, but if you really try to find your people, you will be

successful. I have met so many new friends over the years and I think that this has made the college

experience less stressful.

I feel as though the past three years have changed me and I became more grateful for the little things

and nuances of life. I learned to appreciate every moment and not let anything go to waste. I value all

my friendships and relationships with my family much more than I did before. I believe wholeheartedly

that I needed this pandemic to learn more about myself and the world around me. I have found ways to

cope with stress and burnout that I would have likely not thought of.

If there are any college students reading this right now, just know you are not alone. My Instagram is

linked below, so feel free to DM me with questions or if you need someone to talk to.

Thanks for having me on here Laura!

Alexa <3

@alexaforrey