The Stress Of Being A College Student
When I first arrived at Miami Dade College as a freshman, I expected my days to be movie-like.
My young, naive high school self had heard stories about college being a great experience where you have the chance to meet new people. I imagined myself walking around campus with a group of people, all of us laughing and making plans to go to the beach right after class.
Oh, how wrong I was.
What I thought would be filled with daily adventures, coffee runs and happy strolls around campus turned out to be very stressful days. You can usually find me walking around campus with my computer in my hands because it doesn’t fit in my overfilled backpack, as I review for a test and look as though I’m talking to myself.
This is what the college experience really looks like. We often hear a romanticized version of college and come unprepared to deal with the stress that comes with it. Being at MDC is about studying and preparing for the future, whether that means getting a job or transferring to another institution.
Many students also have to deal with outside pressures that affect their stress levels. There is a new sense of independence that also means you must fend for yourself.
Some students work one or two jobs to make ends meet, while others have to travel long distances to get to class. Maybe you’re caring for a family member or are coping with the loneliness of moving far away from home. Whatever the obstacle, it adds pressure to an already stressful workload.
Hopefully, students can use that same sense of independence to their advantage.
Once you stop trying to make your college experience like the ones you see in movies, you’ll see that colleges give you lots of options to make your life easier.
At MDC, you can make your own schedule. Nobody knows your limits better than you. You can mix hard and easy classes to make sure there isn’t too much pressure.
Making your own schedule also means you can set your classes at any time of the day. Stop putting all your classes in the morning just because Elle Woods from Legally Blonde did it. Add breaks in between classes or study in the afternoon if you like to sleep in.
If you think that meeting during regular class time is too much, try online classes. You can work on the assignments at your own pace and just meet with professors at specific times.
College will always be stressful but there are ways to make it work. The ups and downs will be worth it—they will help you be successful later in life.
