Assignments. Deadlines. Projects. Internals. Surprise Tests.
These are probably the scariest everyday words for any college student. And couple that with being an outstation student who is trying to make it on their own in a whole new city, living for the first time away from the comforts of home; you’ve got a full-blown ball of nerves and chores in your hand. Sure, college life gives you that window of opportunity wherein you get to find your true self and grow as an adult, but this very task of ‘adulting‘ can become too much at times, and all of a sudden, instead of feeling like a fish who had been given the freedom to explore the ocean, you feel lost, suffocated and overwhelmed. All alone.
Luckily, you are not the only one. Stress and anxiety in minute doses are a part and parcel of our everyday lives, but when this anxiety gets out of hand, a feeling of helplessness and strangulation washes over you. Let me paint you a picture: It’s Saturday. It’s the weekend and you’re supposed to be relaxing, but you just can’t because you’ve got three assignments to submit by Monday, you need to do the laundry and also get the mock PPT for your class presentation ready. Oh, and on top of that? You promised your friends that you would go out with them on Sunday, and you don’t want to let them down, so you’re obviously not going to cancel. But then you realize that you’ve also got to read through the notes of your core subject and a wave of disappointment and hopelessness washes over you when you remember that you didn’t understand any of it in the class. You’re homesick. You feel like screaming and shouting out for help, but no sound escapes from your throat. You want to cry tears of frustration, but your eyes feel dry from the bare minimum sleep you’ve been getting over the past week. You feel like you’re overworking yourself everyday but somehow you’re still trying to play catch up at the end of the day. You desperately want someone to help you out, but then you remind yourself, that you’re an ‘adult‘ now, and that you must deal with your problems on your own, instead of taking refuge in someone else’s shelter. It’s sick. It’s twisted. It’s making you lose control over your reality.
Pretty distressing, but relatable, right? While stress and anxiety is common among college students, it doesn’t need to be a permanent fixture of your life bogging you down at every point. Here are some things that can help you cope when things start beginning to feel overwhelming:
- Talk to friends and family back home: People tend to isolate and build an invisible shell between themselves and the rest of the world when they feel anxious or depressed. We start being avoidant and put on a happy face in front of our loved ones because we don’t want them to see the pain and mess that we are in. We don’t want to bother them with our issues, because we are adults who can deal with our own problems, right? WRONG. While we may believe that discussing our issues with our family and friends might be a bother to them, it’s actually to the contrary. Your family and friends are your biggest cheerleaders and talking to them may not always help you come to a solution of your problem, but it surely makes you feel lighter and makes a hell of a difference. Make that call, be kind to yourself, let others be there for you.
- Make your surroundings feel like home: While there is no place quite like home, decorating your surroundings with little trinkets from home and pictures of your loved ones might just make that knot in your chest a bit looser. Put up fairy lights. Keep tiny planters around your room. Put up posters. Keep things that make you feel happy. What’s even more important is to keep your workspace and your relaxation area separate, so that your brain knows when to switch off and so that you don’t carry the stress of the day back to bed with you.
- Make ‘To-Do Lists’: While at a glance your chores might seem innumerable and impossible to get done within the stipulated time frame, making to-do lists helps you compartmentalize and prioritize your tasks. That way, instead of floundering around trying to do everything and getting nothing done, you can tackle one task at a time.
- Indulge yourself, practice self-care: From having a Friends marathon, to putting on a face-mask, self-care has different forms and it is important to let yourself have these little pockets of joy every once in a while and allow yourself to recharge. Turn off social media and get a 12 hour sleep, read your favorite fanfics, paint, plant- the possibilities are endless and the options are yours for the choosing!
- Get some physical exercise: Sitting all day in front of your laptop or having chores run through your head all day is exhausting. Wear your running shoes and unwind with a nice walk through your neighborhood. Or perhaps go on a jog and get your blood pumping. Maybe enroll into a yoga class or sign up at a gym. What’s important is that you allow your body to take a break from all the mental stress and focus on something else while increasing the blood flow rate through your system.
All in all, college life can be equally freeing and stressful, and sadly, it doesn’t get easier. But that doesn’t mean you have to take it lying down and dictate your life. It’s okay to lean on others for a bit, it’s okay to let go once in a while, but most importantly, it’s okay to take time for yourself.