Myth vs. Fact: College Anxieties

So here I am, a first semester senior and the living's easy, right? WRONG! For me, this has been one of my most challenging semesters academically. As I stress over finals, job hunting, graduation, and life after college I've come to think of all of those things friends and family have told me along the way. "If you think you're stressed now, wait until you graduate" or "If you can't handle homework, how are you going to handle the real world". I'm sure we've all heard some sort of variations of these statements at one point or another. So my question is, are these friends and family members telling the truth?

After doing some searching, I found a list of myths vs. the facts regarding the college experience. Continue reading to see that feeling overwhelmed and struck by anxiety doesn't mean you're doomed to fail. And that you certaintly aren't alone in your feelings and experiences, tap into your campus resources for help and support!


Myth: These are the best years of your life! If you think its bad now wait until you get into the 'real world'

Fact: How many times have you heard this! While the college years are memorable and enjoyable, they can also be among the most stressful and anxious times. You are faced with constant evaluation from your professors. Personal and parental expectations are always on your mind. Financial stress is often a way of life. Living in extremely close quarters with peers leaves you with little privacy. Career decisions, serious relationships and the move toward independence are common issues. Does the world get any more real than this. I think not. Making these the best years of your life involves developing an approach that is proactive and includes a support network.

Myth: Students experiencing stress and/or anxiety are unprepared to handle the rigors of college.

Fact: College and university environments are designed to be challenging academically, personally and socially. Stress and anxiety, among other emotions, are natural by-products of the accelerated pace of learning and growth. It is not a matter of whether or not we experience these unpleasant feelings but rather, it is a matter of how we manage these emotions.

Myth: A good student does not need assistance during his/her college or university experience.

Fact: Unfortunately, this myth has its roots in the high school. How many times did you hear well-intentioned high school teachers say something like, "wait until you get to college, you will have to do it on your own"? Many students come to college with the belief that to ask for help is a sure sign of inadequacy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your college or university has an abundance of resources available to you. You are paying for these resources through tuition or fees. Become familiar with and make use of your campus resources. Consider the following hypothetical example: You walk into an automobile dealership to purchase a car. You tell the sales associate the make and model of the car you wish to purchase. The sales associate shows you two different versions of that make and model, one fully loaded with every available option and the other, a stripped down version with no options. The sales associate offers you your choice at the same price. Who among us would drive away with the stripped down version? Not me. Consider your campus resources as the options. Now ask yourself, "which college version should I choose the one with all the resources or the stripped down version?" 'Nuff said.

Myth: I am the only one that doesn't have it all together.

Fact: As you walk the campus and observe other students it appears that everyone else is so sure of them self. Everyone else has friends. Everyone else has direction. Everyone else is confident. Everyone else is without troubles or hassles. This misperception is common among college and university students. It has its roots in one of our more powerful social norms. We all wear a 'public mask' to protect a certain social image. This 'public mask' communicates a sense of self-assuredness to those with whom we come in contact. It often belies the inner turmoil that we all experience from time to time. Think about it, how many people are truly aware of the issues troubling you? Probably very few. Tap into those resources on your campus.

Myth: Counseling is only for people who have experienced a severe emotional breakdown.

Fact: While counselors certainly work with students who have experienced an emotional breakdown, this represents only a small fraction of their counseling interactions. Counselors are available to help facilitate your personal growth and development. They have the professional expertise to help you better understand the personal issues you wish to discuss in a comfortable and confidential environment. If there are issues troubling you, become familiar with the counseling services on your campus and consider adding a counselor to your support network.

Read more on this topic at Campusblues.com

Surviving Finals

One of the biggest parts of surviving college means making the grades. And that means surviving finals week. With a semester full of projects, presentations, tests, and papers, it's not so easy for everyone to stay on top of their coursework. For some these final exams or assigments are the deciding factor between grades. While some have been digging themselves out of a hole so to speak all semester long, others are hoping to maintain their already satisfactory grades. Either way, students on both ends of this spectrum are experiencing high levels of anxiety as they attempt to remember (or cram) a semester's worth of material.


Here are a few tips & guidelines suggested by the University of Texas to help you make it through the week:

* Start studying early - The earlier you start to review your notes, the easier it will be to learn and remember the information. Review a little every day so that when finals come around the material is well-rehearsed.

* Schedule breaks between studying - Take a 10 minute break after studying for 50 minutes, and take a longer break after studying for 3 hours. Get something to eat, call a friend, go work out or do something to get your mind off of what you have been studying.

* Vary the subjects you study - It's hard enough to sit down and review your Chemistry notes, but to look at Calculus right after is even worse. What you study one hour directly affects your ability to understand what you are studying the next hour.

Review for a science course and then look at English or a foreign language - something different. It makes studying less tiresome and you'll remember the information better.

* Eat Right - Always in a hurry, students often resort to junk food during finals. But to do your best on final exams, you must eat well.

-Research shows that eating smaller meals more frequently is vital to maintaining high energy levels.
-Avoid foods with high sugar and fat - they will make you sluggish
-Breakfast boosts your energy and metabolism throughout the day, so be sure to include it in your diet if you are working hard.

* Get enough sleep - When you stay up late, your body accumulates sleep debt, and few students find the chance to make it up during finals week.

7 to 8 hours of sleep are absolutely necessary to remain attentive and think clearly throughout the day. Sleep deprivation can have consequences similar to intoxication.
People who are sleep deprived are more irritable, more negative, and are generally more prone to mistakes. Research has shown that prolonged sleep deprivation can result in higher incidences of chronic disease and a shortened lifespan. Never pull an all-nighter!

* Reducing stress - also see our Tips for Reducing Stress for more suggestions.

Don't hang around others who are always stressed out ? it's contagious!
The top 4 non-academic stressors are relationships, parents, financial obligations, and roommates. Try to deal with these worries before finals, so that you can focus on any academic problems that may arise.
Make time for yourself - avoid spending too much time on school work by allowing a few hours every day for personal things... your friends, personal interests, etc.
Time management - print out some weekly schedules and monthly calendars to make scheduling your work less stressful.

* Take care of your body - Exercising is always an excellent way to take a break from studying - it helps to reduce stress and research has shown that it can improve your brain's ability to retain and comprehend information. Besides getting enough sleep and eating right, avoid caffeine stimulants like coffee, sodas, and caffeine pills.

Groceries or birth control?

A rise in the cost of birth control on college campuses has forced many females to make a choice. As they are faced with paying nearly three times the amount for prescription contraceptives, these young women must decided whether to spend their often limited funds on food or birth control.

What has caused this enormous increase you ask? According to a New York Times article, a recent change in federal law has caused the price of prescription contraceptives to sky rocket at campus health centers nationwide. Prior to this provision, drug manufacturers provided prescription contraception to health centers at largely discounted rates. Ultimately, these savings allowed the centers to charge students less money out of pocket. But today, students who were paying $12 for these prescriptions are now paying $50 or more for protection.

As a result, the number of students purchasing these contraceptives has decreased significantly. Some centers have even stopped selling certain brands because of their high cost. While many argue that college students should be granted these discounted rates others think these low prices will give students a "false sense of security about sex".

"From our perspective, this does bring to light a public health concern, but for a different reason,” said Kimberly Martinez, the executive director of the Abstinence Clearinghouse, which advocates abstinence from sex until marriage. “These young women are relying on this contraception to protect them. But contraception isn't 100 percent — for pregnancy or for disease."

While some young women may over-rely on contraception, I feel health officials should also keep in mind that older women may be just as likely to do the same. To some extent all forms of contraception create that "false" sense of security among females. Since grade school we have been taught that abstinence is the only sure way to prevent pregnancy and protect oneself from sexually transmitted diseases. Yet, other contraceptives such as condoms and oral birth control pills have been proven almost 99% effective. In choosing to be sexually active women are taking a risk, but in choosing to use prescription contraceptives they are also making the conscious decision to properly protect themselves. It is because of this that I do not feel college-aged females should be labeled as sexually promiscuous in choosing to use contraception.

Although, the article does raise a good point. Why were college females offered the opportunity to receive low-priced contraception in the first place while older women were always forced to pay increased prices? Is this fair?

Tree-Sitters at U.C. Berkeley

While scanning through the news on CNN.com, I ran across a rather peculiar story detailing protests on the U.C. Berkeley campus. According to University of California officials, a number of individuals have been sitting among the tree tops of dozens of Evergreen Coast Live Oaks which overlook a proposed construction site on-campus. Almost a year ago the university announced the building of a $125 million athletic training facility. While the school argues construction is necessary in order to accommodate it's growth, these protesters think otherwise. They feel destroying this grove of trees would also destroy the picturesque quality of the campus. According to the article, "they argue the athletic center would be environmentally and seismically unsound, which campus officials deny".

These "tree-sitters" have even gone to extreme measures to fight for their cause, wearing masks and referring to themselves by false names in order to protect their identities. Because of this, Police have been unable to keep track of the exact number of sitters climbing in and out of the trees week after week. While some only stay only a few hours or days, others have hung around the tree tops for weeks at a time. All the while, supporters have delivered food, water, waste containers, and books to these protesters by way of hoisting buckets into the branches. Are these protesters outsiders or students? No one seems to know.

The article explains that after a year of these tree-top protests, the university has recently won the legal right to "evict" sitters that have taken up "residence" in the trees. But the question now is how will they get them down...and safely?

Although entitled to freedom of speech and expression by the American government, governmental policy can also bring these rights into question. This seems to be the case among college campuses nationwide. While I agree that after a year of protests these individuals should be removed from the trees, I can only wonder...are these (potential) students being forced down simply because this event is occurring on a somewhat conservative college campus (in one of the most politically correct cities in America)? Would the situation be different if the event occurred off-campus or even at another campus?

This article really made me wonder how JMU would handle a protest/situation such as this. While this protest has lasted almost a year, I could not imagine the university or even surrounding community members allowing a demonstration to continue for that long on our campus. Maybe I'm just naive to think that JMU students would settle things in a different manner.

For example, last semester when the university eliminated ten varsity sports in compliance with Title IX, students attempted to fight back. With 144 students and 11 coaches personally affected by this decision, the JMU community felt they had to do something. But, instead of chaining ourselves to the athletic performance center or refusing to leave sports arenas we wrote letters, signed petitions, and sported "Save Our Sports" t-shirts. In the end, all ten sports were elimated. While the issue at hand may be a little larger than tree-sitting, I can't help but wonder if students may have responded a little differently, would the outcome be the same?

I'm curious to see how the case of the U.C. Berkeley tree-sitters plays out. Although they have delayed construction of the athletic training center thus far, will their efforts be enough to stop it all together? I guess we'll just have to wait and see!


Take a look at the article "Berkeley's protesting tree-sitters face eviction"

Failing America

At JMU, students often complain about the number of general education courses needed to graduate. Some say these classes are boring, pointless, or even too easy. In other cases, students argue that Gen-Ed teachers take these classes "too seriously" and these courses are "too hard to be Gen-Eds". In my catalog year (2004-2005) students are required to fulfill 41 credit hours towards their general education studies. And this number only continues to rise as JMU pushes to produce more well-rounded and better educated graduates.

A USA Today article really made me question whether or not these courses are truly preparing students or just providing them with enough information to get by. This article entitled "College students struggle on history test" details a recent study showing that students at secondary institutions were unable to pass a basic American history test. Not only were they unable to pass, they failed miserably with an average score between a 50 and 60%. These students had no idea that the battle at Yorktown ended the American Revolution or that NATO was formed to resist the expansion of the Soviet Union.

According to the article, "In general, the better a college's U.S. News & World Report ranking, the less its civic literacy gain". That means students at big name schools such as Harvard, Yale, and other 40,000 dollar-a-year institutions were also unable to make a passing grade on this history test. I guess my question is, if even the "most intelligent" students at the top name schools cannot pass these tests, then what does that show about our nation's General Education programs--more specifically the history courses offered. While institutions such as JMU may place such an emphasis upon developing the general education of students, is the curriculum really measuring up? Who is to blame...the students for not taking such courses seriously, or the teachers for not cracking down on the learning and development of their students?

Think you can make the grade? Take the Civics Test that so many students failed to see if your scores measure up.

My Personal Account. Get Involved!

So far I've tried to keep my blogs informative, professional, and to the point. I've shyed away from sharing too many of my personal experiences, choices, and decisions because I didn't want this to turn into a "dear diary" type blog. But in this case, I feel like sharing my experiences is necessary in getting my point across. So please bare with me.

Playing soccer has always been my passion. Growing up with two older sisters, both soccer players, it was sort of a given that I would follow in their footsteps. I started playing for a recreational league when I was four years old. When I was old enough to join a travel squad at age 10, I did just that. I dedicated hours to practicing on weeknights and spent weekends traveling to play teams all over Virginia. In high school I joined a club team in Richmond, traveling over an hour to practices three nights a week. On weekends I traveled to games and tournaments all over the East Coast. As you can imagine, by my senior year in high school I had grown tired of the non-stop practicing and training, as well as this "one-the-go" type lifestyle. After my last game, I decided to hang up my soccer cleats for good.

When I came to JMU I had no intention upon playing soccer. I wanted to do something different and make another name for myself. Although I loved playing for all those years, I felt like it was a part of my life that had been fulfilled. A chapter that was in need of an end.

But after going to student organization night my freshman year, my thoughts changed. Although there were a million clubs represented in that tiny room, the one that stood out to me the most was the Women's Club Soccer Team. When my friend Brock, a JMU Men's Varsity player at the time, told me I would be wasting my talent if I didn't at least try out, it was settled. The next day I called my parents and told them to overnight me my cleats.

Now, three years later, here I am sitting in the hallway of a Howard Johnson hotel at the Club Soccer National Tournament in Pensacola, FL. After almost 8 seasons with these girls, I could not imagine my college experience without this team. Each week we practice together, play together, study together, and hang out together. These girls are more than just my teammates or my friends. They are my family. Without this team, college would be a completely different experience.

I guess my point is, without becoming involved in soccer or some other organization at JMU, I would not be who I am today. I urge everyone to become involved in college. Seek out a club or organization. Whether it is something you know you are passionate about, like my case, or something you just want to try out for the first time. The possibilities are endless. Find your niche and make the most of it because college doesn't last forever.

Smoke-Free Trend

In recent years restaurants, night clubs, and a number of other public facilities have made the switch to smoke-free environments. Today, a number of colleges and universities are following suit. While some have banned tobacco products and smoking entirely, others have restricted smoking from all indoor facilities.

At Gainesville State College outside of Atlanta, students, faculty, and visitors are prohibited from using tobacco products anywhere on campus. The ban restricts smoking in both indoor AND outdoor facilities. Unlike JMU, You won't find students sitting outside the library taking a cigarette break or walking through campus puffing away, because it's simply not allowed. End of story. Students and staff must literally walk off campus or to their cars to smoke.


While college students may be aware of the dangers associated with smoking, some still continue to do so. Although these bans may keep college students from physically smoking on campus the question is, will they also stop these habits from occurring at home or away from campus?

According to the American Cancer Society, the prevalence of smoking in the United States is highest among college-age students, ages 18 to 24. Often referred to as "social smokers" college students sometimes pick up the habit while out partying as they casually bum cigarettes from friends. While students at Gainesville must go to greater lengths to smoke, bad habits are hard to break. These students may not be allowed to smoke on campus, but on the weekends whose stopping them? I guess my question is, will policies like these really help college-aged students stop/cut back from smoking? Or will it simply cause them to go to greater lengths to do so?

At present, JMU has restricted smoking from all facilities on campus. How would you feel if a complete ban was placed upon using tobacco products both indoors & out?