College Stress Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

By A.J. Panneton

Rotunda ReporterCollege stress: it's a killer. In fact, stress affects me so greatly that when I reflect back on my life I find it difficult to believe I have made it this far in one piece. I have overcome many obstacles that were much larger than myself, and I attribute that to my willpower, drive to succeed and of course a little bit of luck. Even though I'd like to give Michael Vick credit for this commonly used saying, the truth is that on Jan. 31, 1958, Dwight D. Eisenhower said to the Republican National Committee, "What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog." What does that mumbo jumbo mean? It means no matter how stressed you are or what situations you face, you can always fight to overcome them.

With life throwing me curve balls what seems like 99 percent of the time, it is not altogether rare for me to strike out when I step up to the plate. Yet, somewhere along the line, I began to realize that it didn't matter so much if I struck out or smacked it out of the park. What matters is despite WHAT happens at the plate, I will always walk back up to it and try again. Perhaps that is why I have the words "faith and fortitude" tattooed across my ribs.

I decided a few years ago that I never wanted to look into the mirror again without having that encouragement staring me back in the face. Have faith, be strong.have faith, be strong.have faith, be strong. You have no idea how many times I have had to just repeat those words in order to get through something, and this past week was one of those times.

I was at the end of my rope, losing my balance, about to forfeit all the progress I had made up to that point when I decided to add one more thing to my overflowing plate: writing this article. I had written for The Rotunda before, but not an editorial. This was different. The idea of people reading what I have to write.wait, let me change that. The idea of people voluntarily reading what I have to write is still somewhat unfamiliar. (Indeed, was my last English paper used as "cruel and unusual punishment" on the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? Some fervently believe so, but it is merely conjecture at this point).

So here I was, almost out of gas, with another responsibility added to the pile. I was about to fall apart, but I didn't. Why? I decided to take some time off. Luckily, as I'm sure many students rarely have free time, I was fortunate enough to have a copious amount of it: time spent by myself with only my thoughts, my boxer Tyson and a warm fire to facilitate the reflection process.

Stress seems to be a word that is thrown around a lot these days, so I did some very basic research on stress. According to ChangingMinds.org there are four main categories of stress: threats, fears, uncertainty and cognitive dissonance. I found myself immediately asking, "What the hell do these big words have to do with me feeling like I'm riding an out-of-control roller coaster?"

Once I delved further into the explanations, I realized that the four categories of stress are all interconnected. Basically, threats, fears and uncertainty all produce a feeling of lack of control: an inability to predict what is going to happen in the future, as well as the perceived negative, imagined outcomes of each situation. As with the three other categories, cognitive dissonance primarily deals with a feeling of being out of control. Cognitive dissonance is when your beliefs or morals differ greatly from what you actually do: your actions. For example, if you believe abortion is wrong, yet you have one, or you perceive yourself to be an honest person, yet you catch yourself lying to others. In these situations, one's beliefs do not coincide with their actions, once again leaving us asking, "Why am I not in control?" which inevitably results in stress.

Since we now have a basic understanding of the main categories of stress, it is easy to see how so many little things can affect us so drastically on a day-to-day basis. So how can we overcome stress and deal with it effectively?

First we have to understand that stress is not altogether evil. Although stress is typically viewed as a bad thing, a hindrance to productive activity, the truth is that stress is what forces us to evolve and adapt. Thanks to my Psychology 101 course this semester, I can tell you that stress results when our sympathetic nervous system tells the brain to start pumping those "fight or flight" hormones that enable us to do extraordinary things. Have you ever randomly felt pumped up and ready for action? If you have, it was because your brain told your body to kick it into high gear.

When this happens, endorphins surge, our heart beats faster, we become highly sensitive and glucose levels in our blood shoot skyward, equipping us to dive out of the way of that speeding car, make the deadline at work or simply answer coherently and correctly when called on in class. Stress is our body giving us a boost of energy, so we can better deal with our day-to-day situations.

So what should we do when stress gets to be unbearable? There are some simple ways to handle stress effectively. Sometimes some good old physical activity is all the body needs. Get out there. Go hiking, waterskiing, whatever gets you out there enjoying life. Another popular way to deal with stress is to plan time for fun. Just as one might plan their work schedule, one should plan free time in order to get the most enjoyment out of it. For some, this includes vacations and weekend getaways, but really it is just important to have planned "fun time."

Finally, you have to take care of yourself. Eating well and getting adequate sleep is extremely important in controlling stress. Some things that should be avoided include drinking heavily or self-medicating, as these practices do not alleviate stress but only temporarily mask them. It may seem like a "good release" at the time, but trust me, if the problems are there before the drinking or drug use, the problems will most assuredly be there afterwards, leaving you with an even worse feeling.