Words are sprawled before you — page after unfortunate page, a blur of ink and information. You sit, exhausted, at your desk, trying to understand what you have read so many times. But the meanings won’t offer themselves to you. They instead become obscure, forcing you to attempt them once more. And you are so very… tired. A study session was meant to last only through the afternoon; but the night has come and you’re still struggling to absorb the text. It will be hours, you know, before you’ll finish. There is too much to do and too much to comprehend.

Your friends offer no sympathy for this, however. They instead demand that you talk with them, join their easy games. You refuse, certain that they’ll only distract, force you to forget all you’ve learned. You’re worried over exams and dissertations. The stress is too high to bother with social connections.

This assumption — though common — is incorrect.

College is a collection of little terrors, the demands for perfection. Stress therefore is all too easy to become burdened with. It’s reported that over 70 percent of all students admit to being overwhelmed; and most of these individuals believe that their friends must be ignored when they study. All focus must be given to books.

This isn’t true: if only because such focus will bring exhaustion.

Stress is to be battled with relief. Individuals must offer themselves distractions to break the monotony. When hour after hour is given to pages, the information will cease to have relevancy — and the result will be anxiety, the need to study harder. The cycle feeds itself.

Pauses must be utilized instead, with all seeking social connections. Go for a walk with friends. Laugh at a shared joke. Seek out a meal. The interludes don’t have to be long but they do need to be experienced. They will ease the stress and allow a mind to focus once again.

The world must be ending. This is the only explanation you can offer for the terror of your days, the constant tragedies — university life has forced you to battle depression, anger and tedium. Each moment has been shaped to stress and its endless forms. There is no relief to discover. There is no joy to find. All hours are instead panicked, with you scurrying about to gain the needed knowledge, trying to keep pace with your peers (who all seem able to cope with their problems without gnawing through their pens and biting at their fingernails). You are overwhelmed. And you’re certain you will never be happy again.

Such a thought is not true, even if it is understood.

Students suffering from worry often believe themselves to be beyond salvation. All moments are deemed terrible — with tension chasing every step, branding each attempt to succeed a failure. Stress breeds more stress. This is an unfortunate fact. And, when young adults are overcome by their emotions, they only intensify those emotions. It becomes a vicious cycle.

It is imperative therefore for all students to remember one simple rule: stay calm. College is challenging. This can’t be refuted. But it becomes infinitely more difficult when you devote yourself to fretting. Stress is to be expected; brooding about it, however, is not. Individuals must instead find ways to reduce their concerns — whether through exercising, social connections or even seeking counseling. The intention is to steady nerves and ease the burden.

Life within a university will not be the convenience you’ve always wished it to be. It will demand time, effort and sanity. You must still recognize when stress is becoming too great, however, and do all you can to alleviate it. And the first step in this process is to not allow it to consume your thoughts. This will only heighten the worry and exacerbate the problem.