As a mentor for a group of honors freshmen, I feel like I'm reliving some of the best parts of my freshman year all over again. It's a good thing being able to look back to the start of the semester and see how far the kids in the class I mentor have come since the last week of August. Now, mid-way through the semester, they've found their roots but still do need some guidance. At this point, they've become comfortable and aren't afraid to ask for help or guidance when they need it. After my class this week, I decided to write this article not only for my class, but for any other college freshmen who is struggling with stress around halfway through their first semester.
1. That one bad test grade won't kill your average.
A lot of students, me included, stress way too much over a bad exam or paper grade. But the reality is, it's not the end of the world, or your GPA. In a lot of classes there is so many ways to get that bad grade up, whether it's just going to talk to the professor or doing extra credit to make up for it. As long as you use that not so hot grade as motivation to do even better on the next exam or paper, chances are you'll get a great score and your grade will go up.
2. Why stress when you can have ice cream?
If there's one thing I love more than getting an A on an extremely hard exam, its mint chocolate chip ice cream after a long day of classes. It's actually my best stress beating mechanism. I usually do reward myself after a stressful day of back to back classes. I think the moral of my story is that it's okay to spoil or reward yourself every once in a while, it's healthy and it keeps the stress away.
3. When is doubt, run it out.
Another super helpful tip is one I learned my freshman year. Use that gym membership. It's included in your tuition, so why not use it. When I'm stressing I can often be found in the gym with my flashcards because I can actually get a good study session in while on the bikes or the treadmill. Healthy mind healthy body, right.
4. Time management is key.
I tell this to everyone, it's my biggest tip that I give out to those about to head to college. Time management is key...for everything. It's also a he stressor put in incoming freshmen. Not only do you have to manage how much time you're going to devote to studying for each class, but then throw on sports or a or job or family and it can get a little crazy. The thing I struggle with the most is balancing study time and friend time, because as soon as you spend too much time on the other, one slips. It can be hard to focus on school work when you live with your best friends, so usually I try to get my work done during the day and then have my nights to devote to my girls.
5. Honestly, nothing is worth stressing over at this age.
I honestly can't even count the amount of times I've had someone tell me this. That nothing at this age is worth stressing over, because we're young. It's also something I still struggle with. We're young and we're going to make a lot of mistakes and we're going to have to learn a lot in order to grow. And stress is not a good thing to add to that situation too.
