University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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28 Student Lgfe The fifth floor of Watson Library was a common place for students to feel stress studying for classes, Erin Kelly, St. Louis sophomore, and Brian Minges, St. Louis sophomore, used the library to catch up on reading. fplwm by Inrcd Willimnsl Book and periodical filing kept joy Hendrix, Topeka freshman, busy as a reserve assistant at Watson Library. lpllofu by jared Willinmsl

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U l If 4 Ao, LLULCUUUAU, tfcuo pencils crowd the e as Ieff Kolterman, Diego freshman, lies for his classes. zerman, like other lents, dealt with the ss of school by lying and keeping up is classes. Cplzoto by junglzunsl Stressful Situations Stress is an unavoidable part of everyday life, but when does it become too much to handle alone? Finals, deadlines, love and money worries start gurgling and bubbling inside until an explosion or breakdown seems inevitable. It's unavoidable, everybody is going to experience stress, Health Educator Iulie Francis said. According to Watkins Chief of Staff, Dr. Charles Yockey, stress was a huge problem at the University of Kansas. Yockey said over one half of Watkins patients had a condition directly or indi- rectly related to stress. Francis said the problem was even more prevalent for freshman. Almost 25 percent of freshmen considered dropping out of the University due to stress. Adjustment creates high stress levels for freshmen, Francis said. Being away from family and friends and living inde- pendently is too much for some freshmen to handle. Being a freshman is stressful because it's the first year you've been away from home. There's not somebody there to tell you to get things done, said Estelle Mischler, Ashland freshman. It's just the whole college thing. Francis added that, as students grew older, the stress was still there but in a different from. Seniors faced stressful situations such as graduation and living in the real world. lWorking on my Master'sl was over- whelming, said Kari North, Rockville, Md. graduate student. There's stress to perform at the same high academic level throughout and to not disappoint yourself story by Kerry Hillnrd nf fi ffffyli! lr' 1' 1. . ggi Vgfjzz: 115 if za fviw.: ,, .,f to . '.fQ?-271' ,Y 'fsfw .23 . tive. is when HWHY7 ,.: .V ff -,Mx .- .f.f,,. qi ,g,-,f I V-f-aff, ff. ' .,1f.1,,:g:,:, - . 35:45 . i X or your professors. School stresses me out the most because I have too much to do and not enough time to do it, North said. Francis said being under a time crunch and struggling with time management created the most stress for students. Sammie Robinson, Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant of Organiza- tional Behaviors said, Students trying to manage time should make out a schedule and a time table and stick to it. Organiza- tion is the key to minimizing stress. You need lists, lists, and more lists, Robinson said. Yockey said that even organization did not prevent stress at certain times. The highest stress times were mid-term and finals Weeks and the first Clays of class. It goes in spurts, It's like a roller coaster and our staff is aware of that, Yockey said. Awareness of the stress levels during mid-terms and finals allowed Watkins staff to make a quicker diagnosis. Yockey said that a stress diagnosis was not a complicated one to make. Merely looking at a student's life dropped clues. Robinson explained stress through the General Adaptation Syndrome tG.A.Sl, which, in three stages, identified the ways that stress affected students' lives. In the first stage of G.A.S., the stress source is recognized. After recognition, the stress source can be dealt with. The second stage deals with resistance. The To resist stress, a student must find Stress continued on page 28 Student Lyfe 27

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l 1 Stress, continued from page 27 visited Watkins Health Center were If the second stage does not eliminate the stress, the third stage of exhaustion begins. Utilizing all resources unsuccessfully and dealing with stress for a prolonged period of time causes exhaustion. The stress can usually be resolved in the second stage, Robinson said. lf it is not, a medical condition may result. Most medical conditions of students who visited Watkins Health Center were indirectly related to stress. Somebody comes in with a broken hand. It happened because they got drunk because they were under too much stress, Yockey said. Physical conditions directly related to stress ranged from sleep deprivation to ulcers. Francis said students could have prevented these stress conditions by eating right, exercising and allowing time for sleep. Francis added that when these measures were taken, stress could be healthy. Stress helps you prioritize, said Mike Erickson, Keller, Texas, freshman. We all need stress to be more produc- tive, Francis said. The problem is when it won't go away. Robinson said that too much stress affected productivity in both school and in the work place. Stress became such a problem that 1 Robinson devoted a unit of her Organiza- tional Behavior course to coping with individual and organizational stress. I don't feel like stress is one of the more important things to teach, Robinson said. However, that unit seems to grab stu- dents the most. Students respond more to the stress unit. Some students had no problem making stress go away. However, others struggled to relieve it. Some people are better at coping. That's the difference, Yockey said. When somebody can't cope, they need to get to counseling. Coping has a lot to do with attitude, Francis said. A student's frame of mind is an important coping factor. Francis said that education helped students learn the appropriate state of mind necessary to deal with stress. The University offered a stress class and had counseling and assistance programs. However, there were personal measures students could have taken to better cope with stress. A healthy diet and exercise program ranked high as stress managers. When I get stressed l go out and run as far as it takes to make it go away, Erickson said. Another important way to cope was doing enjoyable things at least once a day. Laugh and take time for yourself, Francis said. These simple things help a lot. After a long day of classes and studying, Adam Berman, Overland Park freshman, takes a moment of peace to relax, fphoto by fared Will mms? Student Life