by Julianna Alvarez
With the start of the new year and the semester beginning, students are cranking up their working gear to complete assignments and ace their exams. With the piling work that is constantly given from multiple classes, college students face physical and mental emotions that can create a bad habit in the long run.
The outbreak of Covid 19 in the United States that occurred in March of 2020, changed all of our lives completely. Businesses was shut down, schools was fully online and activities were limited. All of us was trapped in our own bubble for weeks on time and lost connection with society and close friends. With the occurrence of this and lasting for two years now, students mental health has skyrocketed.
A survey from the American College Health Association states that in 2018-2019 about 60% of students felt “overwhelming” anxiety, and the other 40% experienced severe depression that they had a hard time functioning between school and personal life.
Finding balance between the amount of schoolwork and exam’s that are given to a full-time student can be difficult. The endless hours of studying can lead to burnout and a sense of loneliness. Personal life and finding time for friends and family can be tough when constantly working on assignments and studying for exams that college students are becoming isolated from the outside world as they are ‘sucked’ into school life 24/7.
“With my own personal circumstances, I’ve started falling behind with my class work and I have been experiencing anxiety attacks trying to complete my assignments… with classes also being online and in person, I’ve felt like I am alone in these situations”, a student from Niagara County Community College stated their own experience during this time and how they have felt when dealing with schoolwork.
If you are also experiencing anything similar to this, you’re not alone. Here are some ways to help relieve stress and help your mind settle through these tough times.
3 different ways to help your mental health with college
- The wellness center at NCCC advises to color for 20 minutes daily to relieve stress.
- Time management, a technique called The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system where individuals can work with the time that they have. By doing so, you break your workday into 25-minute work ‘windows’ where you work on a task that needs to get done, and then taking a 5-minute break in between. After doing this 4 times you take longer breaks (15-30 minutes) breaks in between.
- Taking care of your health. Doing stretches, breathing exercises, and journaling about how you feel and about your day will create a sense of reset for your mind and ease your mood as well.