We all know how difficult the life of a student can be. You wake up, eat breakfast (some days), go to class, go to work, socialize, do your homework, spend time with the family, and anything else that might surface. Currently, studying in UPRRP is twice as exhausting as usual. As a society, we’ve faced difficult times in this last decade. As a community of students, we know how difficult it is to study and face these problems head-on. A trimester, for us, implies studying the same amount of contact hours that we would during a semester but in fewer days. It sounds horrible, and it is. Is it possible to remain collected within this mess? Is there enough time? Let’s go step by step.
- Prioritize
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This is essential. If you know what’s most important, you can dedicate more time to it and ensure that you’ll have time for personal activities. Organizing helps to invest time wisely and avoid procrastination. Procrastinating is extremely unhealthy in this setting because there’s less time for it. If you consider all the stress that students are being put under, they’re more bound to take their time with work and find ways to relieve stress. Although that’s also important, the consequences of procrastinating could create more stress in the long run. There are a few ways of making sure to remain on track: use a list, set alarms to remind you of what you need to do during the day, or keep an agenda, anything that could remind you of what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.
- Plan ahead
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Try to keep a general schedule of what you plan to do during the day. During a normal semester, it’s simple to get distracted at UPR. One could end up at a poetry reading, a conference about Caribbean literature, or even at a spontaneous protest. I’ve noticed that in a trimester, sticking to a schedule is really difficult because there’s just as much to do in less time. While there are certain events that may be prioritized by yourself or other people, remember to stick to the plan and only break it for events that truly matter. This will also help to avoid procrastination.
- Take care of yourself
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Everyone has skipped meals because of rushing or because you might have woken up a bit later than expected. You might forget to brush your teeth once in a while. My suggestion is to prioritize self-care. If you don’t take care of your physical health, your mental health is soon to be a goner as well due to all the constant stressors that are just floating around in every corner. Make sure to eat, and, if possible, eat well. Exercise in short amounts of time if there’s too much work to be done. Remember to make time to go out and have fun, recreation might make or break the way we feel about our stressors. Overall, make sure that you’re investing enough time in yourself as you do in everything and everyone else.
- Don’t rush
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This might be the most difficult step—and possibly contradictory to what I’ve stated previously— because everything is purposefully rushed during a trimester. However, during your free periods, try to not apply the rush to your relaxation time. If you do, you could unconsciously increase the stressors even further by ensuring that you feel the need to act quickly all the time. By decreasing rest time, the body eventually gives out and an emotional breakdown could ensue. If everything is well-planned, it should be easier to take things slowly. Remember to control your breathing whenever possible. Yoga could help to slow down during a moment in the day and make heated events a bit more digestible. Resting is necessary.
- Evaluate the signs
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Many students are already feeling the stress and experiencing symptoms of different mental illnesses. If this is the case, you should begin to evaluate the specific stressors, see how they are directly affecting your life, and how one can eliminate them. It’s a difficult exercise for many people, especially those with severe traumas and specific symptoms that make it difficult to even talk or think about this. My best suggestion in this case, if you’re feeling too encumbered, is to seek a professional. If you’ve never gotten evaluated by a psychologist or counselor and feel nervous about it, you could always start by talking to a friend that you know will hear you out and won’t minimize your issues. Hopefully, if they have your best interest in mind and notice something different, they will suggest getting help as well.
The important thing here is to notice different ways of acting or feeling that you hadn’t experienced before. Usually, we might mistake some symptoms of mental illness as symptoms of a physical illness. Basically, the somatic symptoms of a mental illness may manifest themselves in the same way as many other illnesses. For example, fever, nausea, and a pulsating heart are common symptoms of a panic attack. One could misdiagnose these as the signs of a heart attack when in reality the individual could have a healthy cardiovascular system. Professionals are more suited to diagnose illnesses and afterward suggest treatment. If you realize you could be going through a crisis or have a mental illness, remember that anyone can develop one. Suffering isn’t exclusive to anyone and no one should shame one another for instances that in many cases one had no control over. In any case, there are resources for people who aren’t sure what they’re going through or need help.
For instance, DCODE is an on-campus resource where psychologists, social workers, and counselors offer mental health services for free. In addition, the center offers academic counseling for students who need to evaluate their vocational interests or job opportunities. If you feel you need immediate attention, an unbiased ear to hear you out, or are going through a crisis, Línea PAS offers on-the-phone crisis interventions, emotional support, people who can contact an ambulance and schedule psychological and psychiatric evaluations. The phone number to contact Línea PAS is 1-800-981-0023.
- Surround yourself with people who are good for you.
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We don’t always get to choose who we work, study, or live with. However, most of us can choose who we spend our free moments with. Those moments need to count, so don’t make plans with people that you know don’t care about you. If you can spend a quiet night out with a good friend instead of going to a bar with some strangers who kind of give you a weird vibe, you should do so. Go enjoy the nightlife with some close friends. One of the key factors to reduce stress is to have a stable support group who genuinely cares and can help in time of need. A lot of students have had lovely nights out with strangers, but it’s way riskier than we’d like to think. In any case, since time is reduced more than ever, this time should be cherished with those that we know will be there for us.
- Be forgiving with yourself
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Given all the suffering everyone has gone through in these past months, it shouldn’t be surprising that our mental health as a society is in a bad state. If you’re feeling bad, it’s okay. Many developed PTSD after the events that occurred during and after Hurricane María. Even if you were lucky enough to be safe, financially stable, and managed to not lose your belongings, the amount of stress that we’re currently enduring due to budget cuts and the endangerment of our life quality is an even bigger problem we are facing. If it’s not possible to get the highest grade, we should forgive ourselves. If we can’t meet our expectations completely, we must understand that we are not alone in this. We’re only human and it’s okay to cut ourselves some slack from time to time. The important thing is to get back up, no matter how long it might take.
It’s complicated. Many people struggle because the system doesn’t provide for their needs. Those of us who are somewhat mentally stable and can help others should direct them to get help or offer our time to them. Listen to someone if it seems they’re crying out for help. Be aware of the signs. Treat your fellow student with empathy. However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just your college campus. As bad as we may have it, at the end of the day, studying in a higher education institution is a privilege that some people may never have access to.
As students of an inclusive space that seeks to provide education for the largest amount of people possible, we must prove with our example that it is possible to strive by helping one another. One thing we could do to promote healthier ways of interacting is asking everyone how their day is going. Instead of superficially skimming through this as common courtesy, try to establish a dialogue based on the person’s responses and corporal language. Listen to understand instead of listening to reply. Sometimes people say say they’re fine but their tone, body, and eyes say otherwise. It’s important to respect the other person’s boundaries and space, so make sure that you seem interested in the conversation and possibly in talking about what they might feel. Never make the person feel like they’re forced to say what’s wrong. This could trigger the person to remember negative moments or thoughts and reinforce their desire to not talk about something they might be going through. Another habit that can be practiced to promote healthy interpersonal relationships is to talk through everything and maintain an inclusive group dynamic. Instead of cutting off certain people or giving them more time to talk than others, make sure everyone in the group is being heard somehow and the ideas can mix with each other to create a discussion where all voices are somehow involved. It’s difficult to establish this in certain social circles or jobs, but in smaller, more personal spaces, it’s possible. This dynamic helps people feel part of a community and feel more respected and valuable. There are other ways to promote healthier ways of treating each other and promoting mental health, but generally speaking, they could be summarized in two words: mutual respect.
It’s unacceptable to expect compassion without offering it first. As stated previously, empathy is the key word here. You could write laws that enforce politics that promote empathy, you could fine people for not practicing empathy, and you could even give people money for it, but none of that would matter if you don’t practice it. Of course, laws should protect the rights of every citizen, and we should aspire to live in a society that promotes empathy, but it needs to start with each and every one of us. Many mental illnesses are developed over time due to external factors, meaning that the way we decide to treat others influences how gravely a person could feel when facing any given situation or crisis.