If there is one thing for sure that a college student will go through, it is stress, especially during finals week. There are many different ways to handle stress but which ones are most effective? I have a few different ways I personally manage my stress.

My favorite stress reliever is cleaning something. Whether it be just cleaning your room or just cleaning out the garage, all of which I have already done. To me, it calms me down and makes me forget just for a while the stress of final exams or the stress of the number of assignments I have to finish. Although this one doesn’t relieve my stress for a long time, it makes me feel better when I clean everything around me. It makes me feel much cleaner and also makes me want to finally accomplish my task if I am procrastinating.

Another coping mechanism that I use is breaking up a difficult task I have been putting off for the longest into small parts I can accomplish daily. This could be studying small sections of the textbook daily to ready myself for the exam. Beats doing it the night before and stressing about it the next day. This would help by getting you used to accomplish tasks no matter the size, hence helping you with stress.

If these two coping mechanisms don’t work then I would strongly advise you to seek other help such as therapy or simply a friend to confide in as stress isn’t something you should have to deal with daily. It is never wrong to seek help nor is it wrong to talk about your stress or problems with someone you can confide in.

Do not let stress dictate the way you go about living your life, as stress is temporary but could also lead to mental issues if left ignored. You might think the way to go is to partake in drugs or alcohol, but that is also just temporary. It could also lead to depression as you are only masking the stress but not getting rid of it. You will be seeking comfort within the drugs and alcoholism but how long until you create a tolerance that leads to doing harder drugs or you just completely stop and a sort of hole would be left thus leading to addiction.

Don’t forget to take deep breaths COS students and try your best on all of your finals but don’t stress too much as a grade does not dictate you as a person. It is nothing but a letter but nonetheless do try your very best. Everybody is stressed out so don’t think you are alone.