College can be stressful, and many of us share the same stressors. Personally, my biggest stressor is time management. With so many assignments, a job, how classes are spaced out, and so on, it can be difficult to accomplish everything on time. Along with the abundance of homework, a lot of it is due on the same day. For example, I have part of an essay, this blog entry, and lecture prep all due tomorrow. On top of that, I have work. While it can be a lot it also depends on how you deal with it. I have found adding due dates to my calendar is helpful as well as setting certain times aside for schoolwork and others for just chilling out and doing something besides school. Something like hanging out with friends or reading a book from my “to be read” pile.
Another academic stressor is figuring out what I want to do for my major. I was a Music Education major but have dropped it because of the feelings most college students face, the what-ifs, and a slight feeling of dread for the future. The question of, “What do you see yourself doing in X number of years” scares me, because I am unsure. I have friends, family, and coworkers who tell me, “I can see you as a teacher” or “I always thought you should do something with animals, you know so much about them”, unfortunately,
these comments don’t help too much. The declaring and changing of majors is a common issue for college students, and some figure it out sooner than others and that’s alright. Part of college is just “figuring it out” and finding the path that fits the best for us.