College Advice

Leah S.

November 3, 2009 - 4:29 PM

AHHHH!!!!!!! This is the sound I hear in my head almost constantly anymore. My body is always in knots and I either can't sleep or it's all I want to do. Stress is the lovely reason for these lovely symptoms. For me, this level of stress means lack of appetite, wanting to sleep all the time, no energy, no desire to do anything, and crying. It is not a fun place to be. I have bit off a bit more than I can chew and everything is started to get rolling so I have not yet managed to create a schedule that works for me to handle everything.

My advice to you who are not yet in college: if you are a worrier or if you are laid back-learn how to deal with stress effectively. You're life will be much more simple in college if you do this. You don't realize it now, but college is scary. I know a majority of you out there just can't wait to be out of your parent's house and doing what you want to do without having to sneak about doing it. It still doesn't matter. You will get to college and miss the simple life you had at home. Here you have to do your own laundry, you're in charge of when and what you eat, you have to keep up on classes, keep up on homework, some will have to find job(s), balance money, make friends, keep in touch with old friends, many of you will join some sort of club. All of this really adds up. Know how to schedule your time effectively and learn to handle stress in a way that works for you. I wish I had known this already.

For those who are already in college, the same applies as above. You just need to add finding time to relax or learn how to not stress into your stressful schedule. Trust me though; schedule time out for it and you will be much happier.

Eat healthy, get on a regular sleeping pattern, and stay on top of your homework. If you do all of that it will definitely help keep your stress level low. I know going to bed at a certain time seems like such a kid thing to do, but it really helps. You can still hang out with people; just don't wait until ten or eleven at night to do so.

Well I need to take my own advice here and start and finish writing my three page German paper on an Opera by Mozart. So until next time...