How To Handle Stress

   If anything, college is a lot like high school. What was the one thing we all knew high school was? Drama. Now, unlike high school drama, college drama tends to actually matter ...

See this? This is not the drama that matters ...
Special mention to this site, the source of the image.

   College is about learning who we want to be, why we want to be that way, and then having a free space to start towards achieving that goal. The issue then comes when we get stressed out - sometimes we realize we have a test ( or four ) the next morning; we realize we didn't complete a paper we needed to do. Yea ... those are legitimate things to stress out about because they are directly related to if we can'can't succeed at our graduation goals ...

Oh, yea, my midterm is memorizing 177 names of plants in taxonomic order.
Yea ... I make this face when that happens, problem?

   I am prone to stress-based anxiety, however most of the time it is easy to control. My recent plight has been the fact that, due to my schedule loving me, I have to take Bio II Lecture, Bio II Lab, and Bio I Lab on the same day. Now, for some? No big deal. For me? As an English major? I'd rather have math class ...

MATH!

I AM AN ENGLISH MAJOR!

NUMBERS HURT ME AND I'D RATHER HAVE THE NUMBERS!

*coughs and adjust his throat a little* So, yea ... my heart isn't into having back-to-back Biology tests, and apparently neither were my nerves! Stress sometimes like to find us and punch us repeatedly while we ( not unlike the proverbial punching bag being smashed again and again by Stress doing its best impression of  Muhammad Ali! ) try and dodge the oncoming blows. 

   How, you ask?

   1. Find friends to speak with. Should that not really be available, try our counselling service that the school provides. Having a safe space to talk about what is bothering you does not make you "crazy", nor does even discussing counselling.

   2. See if you can actually schedule yourself for relaxation. I know that may seen odd, but hear me out. I tend to be either very, busy ... or very, very lazy. Seldom am I too lazy or busy in a week, it is one or the other. When I am busy I manage my time ... weirdly? I have had to start scheduling time to relax otherwise I won't feel I have an excuse to do it. In my mind "I don't have time", but if I have relaxation out into my phones planner? Suddenly it is apart of my schedule, not simply something I feel like I am doing on a whim.