Students find stress around every corner
Students find stress around every corner

Published: May 8, 2008

Activities such as hiking are good stress relievers

Conner Moslander
Deer Creek
Sophomore

T.J. Lowell, thumbing through his accounting textbook, begins to hum a familiar tune.

“It helps me relax from the stress,” Lowell said.

Lowell, 18 and an accounting freshman at Oklahoma State University, needs to relax because of the level of stress that he and many other students are under.

Like Lowell, other college freshmen deal with high levels of stress as a result of the changes associated with their first year of school, according to a survey conducted for The Associated Press and mtvU.

The study reported nearly one in five students frequently feel stress, while two in three say they are content with their lives.

Stress is also reflected in high school seniors who deal with homework, studying and filling out college applications.

Stress can lead to weight gain, often called the “Freshman 15,” or weight loss.

It can also cause sleep troubles.

There are many reasons for this stress, said Anna Storey, principal at a vocational school in Katy, Texas.

“A common form of stress is determining how students will pay for tuition, books and room and board,” Storey said. “Other stressors include the unknowns, such as, ‘What will my classes be like?’ and ‘How am I going to stay on the budget?’”

Staying within a budget is one of the hardest things for a college freshman to do, Storey said.

“Either students didn’t have much money to begin with or they spent it all on junk food,” Storey said.

In addition to budget stress, students have a hard time with the change of environment and the amount of studying they do while beginning college.

Brad Gary, a senior at Deer Creek High School, has applied to the University of Oklahoma and Baylor University. Gary said the most stressful part of his application process was not knowing if he would be accepted.

“My grades and everything were good,” he said. “It was just the fact that it might not be enough.”

Gary’s concerns are valid, said Kyle Ensley, external vice president for the Interfraternity Council at Oklahoma State University.

Ensley said colleges look for involvement in the community.

“Not only do colleges want intelligent students, but they want students who are going to be involved on campus and make a difference,” Ensley said.

Before high school seniors get accepted into a college, they must complete a lengthy application process. Cindy McCachern, a counselor at Deer Creek High School, said the application process is now almost totally online.

Though this gets rid of a lot of paperwork and it may appear to be easier to access applications, it is not, she said.

“The hardest part about applying is finding time and making time to fill out the applications,” McCachern said.

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