Stress or Sink
I sat down intending to really focus in on the topic of sexualization in the media and why so many people seemed to be so consumed by it. I had every intention of sitting down at my desk, laptop plugged in and ready to write as well as really dig deeper into this topic.
But then I sat down and got distracted by an email from a teacher I had yet to answer. Then another quiz I had to study for. Then work I had to do for my sorority position and now I’m back here ready to write this and all I can think about is, god I’m exhausted.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that those between the age of 18 to 60 need to be getting at least seven hours of sleep in 24 hours. However, I don’t genuinely see how that is possible.
I have to go to classes, find time to study and do homework, eat, be a part of extracurricular organizations, keep good hygiene and sleep? And this is just the bare-bone basics. What about traveling from place to place? What about relaxing and hanging out with your friends? There aren’t enough hours in the day for it all, and ye college students are expected to be dropped off at university and just know how to manage it.
And dont even get me on the mental and emotional fatigue. Burnout is something so many people have to struggle through while pursuing their degree, with piles and piles of chronic stress heaped on top of them it’s a wonder how they don’t buckle under the pressure.
I definitely feel the weight. As a leader of a couple of organizations on campus, a student who takes her grades very seriously, and a woman who tries to be a good fried with all her might I’m no stranger to the struggles of finding a balennce and tryinng to pencil in time to take care of myself. Sometimes even doing laundry is almost as strenous of a task as writing a five paper, but i have to find time in the day for it all. And beinng totally transparent, it comes down to a lot of late nights and unintentionally skipped meals — nither of which are very healthy.
And I try to modulate it, I promise. But every time I take that break it seems the stack of things I have to do is growing and growing and growing. The stress and expectations placed on students are beyond unfair, it is beyond unhealthy — it genuinely is debilitating. Just look at the Annual Student Participation Survey for New College Students (BCSSE), where out of about 50 thousand new students more than 50% answered that they feel mentally and physically exhausted, 30% suffer from depression, 27% feel more Alone, another 27% feel unable to concentrate, and 20% feel desperate. If you don’t think there is a problem with this, you are wrong.
Steps need to be taken by universities. Professors have to be more conscious. There is only so much I or other students can do, and if something isn’t done soon on a larger scale to help it won’t just continue to be the grades that suffer, it will be the students..
