Now that spring break is over, the amount of work being assigned in classes is beginning to ramp up as finals are quickly approaching, not to mention all the other sources of pressure arising like deadlines for summer internships or travel plans.

With so many things going on, it is easy to become overwhelmed with stress and anxiety, and negative feelings may cloud our thoughts and actions, making these things seem like they are too impossible to accomplish or get done. However, it is important to stay positive and face these challenges head-on rather than allowing them to pile up and exacerbate your stress even further.

I used to become stressed very easily and I would constantly work myself up with worries about approaching events, such as a big exam.

Whenever I would have a big test coming up, pessimistic thoughts would flood my mind like not being able to remember the material, and these would aggravate as the test was approaching to feelings of failure, which would, in turn, lead me to believe that my GPA was going to get worse and that I might not be able to get a good job. I knew these feelings were not healthy and greatly exaggerated, but at the time they seemed very real and would constantly linger in the back of my mind.

The most important thing that I learned to bring an end to this anxiety is to embrace these feelings rather than trying to fight them. I used to try and ignore my worries because I just wanted to get rid of my stress and I thought to ignore it would make it eventually go away, but all this does is allows tension and nervousness to bottle up, which will eventually return at the worst possible moment. Instead, it is important to acknowledge whatever feelings you have and to determine the root of their cause.

In the case for me and my academic nerves, I realized that a lot of my problems existed because of how disorganized I can be and the amount of time I would spend procrastinating instead of studying. So, I came up with a plan to begin studying for my tests a day or two before I usually would. I would spend most of this time organizing my notes and determining what exactly I had to study.

Then, when I actually had to start studying, it was much easier because I would only have to worry about the material, instead of organizing and finding that material in my notes. Additionally, I greatly limited my time spend procrastinating and would only give myself a small break after an hour or so of studying. This worked well because it gave time for the information I had just been going over to sink in, and I would feel like I was rewarding my hard work rather than just being lazy.

On top of attacking the roots of our anxieties, there are many other things that can help alleviate stress. One thing everyone should do is to take time to think and reflect at the end of each day because you can take the time to go over all your highs and lows and plan a course of action for the next day. Another is to limit one’s daily caffeine intake because drinking too much of it may exacerbate these feeling of anxiety, so it is important to know your limits and how much caffeine is too much.

Finally, one of my favorite things to do when I am stressed is to cuddle and play with my dog, especially since we can learn a thing or two about being less stressed from our pets. So if you are ever feeling stressed like me, grab a furry friend and take the time to plan out what you are going to do to limit this stress from your life.