Living independently with no parent rules, party options at all hours of the day, unlimited dining card….sounds like a dream to a student leaving for his/her first year of college on campus. However, after just a few weeks on campus some reality might kick in. Many college freshmen living on campus will suffer from missing the comforts of home, lack of sleep, lonliness if their social life has not taken off on campus, finances quickly running low, payday cash advance racking up, and the biggest factor causing stress being the difficulty of their college level classes.
While feeling anxiety and stress is fairly common during the first year of college, there are many technigues to help decrease your level of stress. First and most importantly is learning time management. Be sure to map out your time wisely leaving plenty of time for each course assignment as well as some “down” time for yourself. You will want to create a daily agenda to help you stick with your time management goal. Make sure your agenda is realistic while productive. Map out a week at a time, if not an entire month, taking into consideration project due dates, tests, a work schedule, social time, “down” time, etc.
Another key factor in lowering stress is to take care of your body. Be sure to get plenty of sleep on a regular basis. The average first year college student tends to push their body to the max between partying and studying and doesn’t give their body enough rest. Your body needs at least 7 hours of sleep per night and when achieved on a regular basis you will notice a big difference in your stress level. Also be sure to eat 3 meals a day that have some nutritional value. We would not run a car without fuel, think of your meals as your fuel. Your body needs them!
Some other techniques to help lower stress are to create a journal, find a mentor you can confide in, as an elective take a Techniques of Relaxation class, excercise regularly, and always leave time for something you simply enjoy.









