Opinion

New semester stress grows for students

Four weeks into the Winter Semester, things are getting tough to manage.

From classes, homework, jobs and personal relationships, students may find it difficult to balance their everyday responsibilities.

Nevan Schmidt

“You have to pick — there’s like three things, school, work or social life and you have to pick two,” MCCC student Nevan Schmidt said. “You don’t want to sacrifice your social life for work and school, because then you don’t see any of the benefits you got from the work you put in.”

To help myself, I make sure to write out all my assignments on a whiteboard I bought specifically for school.

Others might use a planner or Google calendar to organize their everyday activities.

“I try to keep a calendar so I can set personal time or time to do my homework, so I don’t just wing it,” Schmidt said. “Otherwise I won’t get it done.”

Setting time aside for homework is crucial, but making time to eat, sleep, relax and refresh is equally important.

Working constantly can put a strain on the brain and can quickly become exhausting.

MCCC student Katanna Standifer said she finds time to do homework sometimes as late as 4 a.m., sleeping only 20 minutes the night before I talked with her.

“I work a full-time job, and then I work a part-time job then I go to school,” Standifer said. “It’s just stressful.”

Student Katanna Standifer works on homework in the A Building Cellar.

Making sure I take notes directly from my teachers’ PowerPoint slides ensures I know what will be on the following test.

I don’t read everything assigned for every class because not all the information is needed.

I’m not saying students should skip assigned readings — rather, focus on remembering the main points of your readings instead of trying to memorize all the nitty-gritty details.

If the goal is to get all A’s, then constant studying, note taking, and one-on-one meetings with teachers during their office hours is a must.

If the goal is simply to get by, then organizing time and focusing on tough subjects will help relieve stress. Being stressed can affect both students and their family and friends.

“I’m the kind of person that just has innate energy,” Schmidt said. “When I’m stressed I kind of make life bad for everyone else, which is kind of a bad quality of mine. I’m very telling with my emotions.”

Making the most of your free time, even small amounts between classes, jobs or early in the morning after that first cup of coffee is useful.
Schmidt finds time to do homework between his classes and work as well.

Even if it’s making a start on a project, it’s more progress than you had before.

Looking at everything that has to be done for the week can be a bit overwhelming, but breaking it down it makes it manageable.

Hang in there, students. Don’t get discouraged. The semester is half of the the way done!