RA Class Week 12

Stress is something every college student will have to deal with at some point within his or her college life. Many things can become stressors within a student’s life including leaving his or her family, entering a new environment, having to become more independent, studying for classes, staying organized, finding time to finish homework and assignments, passing midterms, cramming for finals, reserving time for a social life, and even trying to get enough sleep each night. Within a college student’s life, it seems as if just about everything becomes a stressor and adds stress to his or her life in some way or another. With so many things to cram into one day, finding time for it all may become a chore, adding even more stress to the already busy day.

Mental health is extremely important for college students because they are at a university for mental reasons: to learn and grow mentally. With poor mental health, students are bound to do poorly in their classes, so it is essential that they maintain excellent mental health. In order to sustain a healthy mental state, one must learn to deal with stress. This is where a resident assistant can aid his or her residents: by guiding them and helping them deal with stress in order to boost their mental health and do better throughout their classes. There are multiple techniques that resident assistants can teach to their residents to help them deal with stress, and even take advantage of, themselves, in order to keep their own minds sharp and healthy.

There are many different things a student can do to help deal with stress. It all depends on the person, as each person deals with stress differently. For those who like to stay busy, allowing one’s self to complete smaller, simpler tasks in order to take a break from dealing with larger, more complex tasks may allow one to stay productive and busy, yet relax from a specific assignment. For those who like to socialize, hanging out with friends and gathering to do something together, such as watching a movie, grabbing something to eat, or going bowling can be a fun way to “get away.”

Others like to keep their minds activated by solving puzzles, completing challenges, or playing games. This can be an excellent way to keep the mind running, yet take a break from difficult work and have some fun. For some, they need to literally get away from everything in order to relax. For these people, taking a short trip home to visit family, taking a short walk around town, through a park, or even just around the block, or even reading a book to escape into the imagination can help allow the person to relax and take his or her mind off of everything that is adding stress. Any of these strategies can be effective as long as the break is kept to a short amount of time and is not prolonged, wasting time that could otherwise be used for studying or working. If time is wasted, one may find himself rushing and stressing even more to finish before a deadline.

Every college student will experience stress at some point within his college life, including residents and their resident assistants. It is important that resident assistants know how to deal with stress and exemplify that they are dealing with stress and keeping a healthy mental state in order for their residents to learn from example. By following their resident assistants and finding their own technique to deal with stress, students can maintain excellent mental health and do better in their classes.

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