Spring Break
A little bit of stress keeps students alert, on their toes
Taylor Trudon
Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: Commentary
We all deal with stress differently. Some wash it down with a glass of milk and a sleeve of Thin Mints, or sweat it off at the gym for a couple of hours on the Elliptical. Some tackle the stress head-on and just like a math equation, figure out x and y in order to achieve the end result of z. Then there are the people who don't like to deal with it all, the people who like to take the stress and put it in a tiny box and shove it in the back of their head and pretend it's not there. While I admit to occasionally resorting to the Girl Scout cookies when times get really tough (hey, we all have our vices), I think that when we become overwhelmed, it is only human nature to tend to believe that if we choose not to think about our various problems, then they will go away (otherwise known as procrastination).
It is inevitable that we experience daily stress, whether it is a fight with your boyfriend or you've hit the snooze button one too many times and missed your 8 a.m. class. Homework piles up, and if you're anything like me, you convince yourself that you have plenty of time to do it tomorrow; consequently you decide to stay up until midnight watching "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and "Little People, Big World" reruns on TLC with your roommate, because it's more entertaining watching sextuplets learning to potty train than it is reading 100 pages of the life of Emma Goldman (no offense, Emma).
And when you're not watching families of multiples or reading about European anarchists, there is always something you could be doing or should be doing. Even as I write this article, there is always a book to be read, a phone call to be made, a test to be studying for - and it can be a bit overwhelming at times.
But what if we were to take all of that stress, those emotional strains of fatigue and frustration, and use it to our advantage? According to developmental psychologists, the majority of individuals perform best under mild to moderate conditions of stress. Scientific research shows that our bodies are circuited to respond to stress as a means of survival, and it can essentially even help us - as long as we keep our tension levels in check and manageable. For example, stress can turn the heat up just enough to give us the extra boost of energy we need to nail that singing audition or sprint to the finish line during a race, almost comparable to an adrenaline rush.
It is inevitable that we experience daily stress, whether it is a fight with your boyfriend or you've hit the snooze button one too many times and missed your 8 a.m. class. Homework piles up, and if you're anything like me, you convince yourself that you have plenty of time to do it tomorrow; consequently you decide to stay up until midnight watching "Jon & Kate Plus 8" and "Little People, Big World" reruns on TLC with your roommate, because it's more entertaining watching sextuplets learning to potty train than it is reading 100 pages of the life of Emma Goldman (no offense, Emma).
And when you're not watching families of multiples or reading about European anarchists, there is always something you could be doing or should be doing. Even as I write this article, there is always a book to be read, a phone call to be made, a test to be studying for - and it can be a bit overwhelming at times.
But what if we were to take all of that stress, those emotional strains of fatigue and frustration, and use it to our advantage? According to developmental psychologists, the majority of individuals perform best under mild to moderate conditions of stress. Scientific research shows that our bodies are circuited to respond to stress as a means of survival, and it can essentially even help us - as long as we keep our tension levels in check and manageable. For example, stress can turn the heat up just enough to give us the extra boost of energy we need to nail that singing audition or sprint to the finish line during a race, almost comparable to an adrenaline rush.
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