Attending a university is an immersive experience. Students face numerous decisions about lifestyle, and sometimes it can lead to unusually high stress levels.
In a study by James Madison University, 50 percent of students reported having high levels of stress. Major causes reported included academic workload and time management. High stress levels correlated with poor diet and sleep habits. The researchers found that 80 percent of students do not eat breakfast every day and nearly 64 percent obtain fewer than seven hours of sleep.
Will eating breakfast every day and sleeping for eight hours solve every problem? Probably not. But taking an extra 30 minutes every day to do something restful and enjoyable might. Often it’s the accumulation of little things piling up that cause stress. If small moments throughout the day can be set aside to shake those little stress bugs off and relax, students might find themselves feeling better.
Are universities conducive to unhealthy lifestyles? Surely they must not intend to be. After all, faculty and professors want the best for their students. Homework and exams are assigned so students can learn the material, not to cause sleep deprivation. Somewhere in the pursuit of knowledge and excellence the simplicity of healthy living has been neglected. Either college itself or the approach to it needs to change, and it’s much easier for someone to change their approach rather than to change the entire institutional structure.
What if a student’s well-being wasn’t the responsibly of the university? What if students stopped relying on the institution to tell them what the college experience should look like?
Every student is an individual and every individual determines the course of their own life. Each person gets to choose how to optimize their time and eliminate stress. It’s up to the individual to choose joy and love over discouragement and indifference.
What if students stopped waiting for someone to fix the problem and instead became the answer? Every person is capable of far more than they can imagine. The potential inside every human is astonishing.
Universities can become places that inspire not only intellectual thinking, but passion for life itself. Students can discover the things that bring them joy and fill their lives with those things.
Universities don’t have to be full of stress. Instead of accepting the status quo of restless nights and constant stressors, students can raise the bar, defying stereotypes. The hectic challenge of college can bring people together instead of isolating them. The question is, will students choose to be part of the problem, or will they be the answer?
Andrew Brand
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