Nursing and LSA junior Christie Wiles isn”t looking forward to April 16, when she has three papers to turn in and three exams to take.
- Paul Wong
- LSA sophomore Rima Makhiawala studies with a stack of books yesterday in the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library.<br><br>SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily
Like many of her peers, Wiles says she is feeling the stress of a growing workload and added pressure as finals approach.
Between classes and 20 hours of waitressing each week, Wiles said she winds up working during all waking hours.
“I get up early and do things between classes, but a lot of times at work or in another class I get really out of it,” she said. “I”ll be making lists of all the things I have to do instead.”
LSA freshman Adam Hoipkemier said he tries to stay relaxed in the face of finals and papers as classes come to a close.
“I just sleep more,” Hoipkemier said. “I like to put all the stress into one day instead of worrying about it all of the time.”
Other popular stress outlets among students include working out, playing video games, relaxing with friends and watching television.
Counseling and Psychological Services psychologist Jim Etzkorn said many people come to CAPS to talk about stress, and that common stress symptoms include difficulty concentrating, persistent anxiety, difficulty of handling routine tasks and relationships, fatigue or sleeplessness and lowered enjoyment of life in general.
Etzkorn added that in order to deal with the strain of school and personal obligations students should focus on time management and try to avoid procrastinating.
He recommended making a schedule, which he said raises awareness in the individual of the things they have to do and the time allotted for each activity.
“If the schedule”s in front of me I can see if it”s realistic or not,” Etzkorn said, “and students need to realistically decide on what”s possible to get done. Sometimes it means having to look at other parts of their lives and seeing if they have other activities they need to put on hold for a short time,” he said.
Etzkorn said it is also important for students eat well, get enough sleep, make time to relax and to ask for extra support from friends or family in order to take extra care of themselves during high stress times.
Realistic personal goals play a significant role in tension levels as well, he said.
“People say “I have to get an A plus on this paper”, and they”ve imposed these standards on themselves that nobody else is demanding of them,” Etzkorn said, addressing the need for students to take the time to make tension reducing changes in their lives.
“In the long run their happiness is going to be more important than any one thing they accomplish this term,” Etzkorn added.