Question

Read the attached articles. Summarize the subject of managing college and holiday stress. Explain why you can identify (write in the third person); that statement becomes your thesis. Summarize the articles and support your thesis

The most wonderful time of the year is finally here, and as people prepare for the joys of meeting up with old family and friends and relaxing over the holidays, college students are more stressed out than ever before.

Between finals week, arranging travel back home, money issues for holiday shopping and balancing a work schedule, there is a major spike in stress levels of a college student. In an interview with radio station WUWF in Florida, psychologist Rebecca Kennedy elaborates on the issue.

“Many students find that their worries are tied directly to their fear of academic failure instead of success,” she said.

Junior Abby Pfriem also explains her experience with stress first hand.

“I want to be able to celebrate different holidays and see my family, but school and work just builds up so much that I can't enjoy them,” she said

Most students tend to find most of their stress increases between Thanksgiving and Christmas due to the effects of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and studying for finals.

“I have so many homework assignments due between Thanksgiving and finals week. I’m also a huge giver around Christmas time, and I want to be able to give my friends and family good gifts, but my work hours get cut because I need to study, and I bring in much less money per paycheck just so I can pass,” Pfriem said.

Sophomore Jon Wood also expresses his concerns around the holiday season.

“Around this time of the year, I have to focus on finals and keeping my grades up and work. But since I’m trying to study for finals, I can’t work as much, so money becomes a huge issue as well,” he said.

Junior Chandler Arnold said Thanksgiving is difficult because there is an increased load of midterms to complete before break.

“Since it’s a short break, there's a whole bunch of exams before it. And since Black Friday is coming up, I have to pick up more shifts for work, and that leaves me less time to study,” he said.

Another factor found to contribute to students’ stress is the idea of traveling home for the holidays. Students have to arrange travel home if they do not keep their cars on campus, and that can cause extra expenses and time away from focusing on school and work, as well as extra stress from trying to find time off work in order to study for finals and go home for breaks.

“I live in Cleveland, and this is the first year I’ve been able to keep my car on campus. In past years, I had to try and find rides home from friends who would happen to be heading to the Cleveland area so my parents don’t have to come all the way here to pick me up,” Pfriem said.

Arnold also agreed that going home for the holidays is sometimes more of an inconvenience.

“I live two and a half hours away from Bowling Green, so gas money is a huge issue for me when I’m trying to get home for breaks. All of the gas money I use trying to get home and back to campus is money I could have been using for school and gifts.” he said.

Students have been having difficulty balancing their finances with their school work around the holidays, and this has seemed to be the main cause of student stress around this time of year. The Huffington Post offers different options to college students on how they can alleviate stress during this season by participating in activities such as exercising, staying hydrated, leaving time for naps after all-nighter study nights and taking advantage of study groups.

“If you can pinpoint the sources of stress during finals week, whether it is your upcoming graduation as a senior, maintaining your GPA, trying to find an internship in the spring, managing good study habits and a healthy social life, and/or not getting enough sleep or making your way to the gym as usual, this may help you better avoid these problems or reduce their impact,” The Post article said.

Wood also explained some ways that he regulates his stress levels when he goes on breaks.

“I usually handle school really well. But when the holiday season rolls around, I get so stressed out that the thought of not even returning to school the next semester crosses my mind. So when I travel for Thanksgiving, I always bring my school materials with me, and while I’m gone, I try to get ahead of my homework, papers and projects so I have more time to myself when I return to school before finals,” Wood said.

The holidays can be a major burden on college students. The amount of activities and assignments going on can be overwhelming to a student. But the quicker they can learn to overcome the stress and emotions that go along with the holiday season, the quicker they can deck the halls stress free.

Answer 1

The holiday is the period of relaxation people wait for the holiday so that they can go to meet their friends and family members.

Those who do not have any family members often go for a small trip to relax and enjoy their holidays.

For the students, this period is full of stress as they have to arrange for finance, they have to arrange for their packing, traveling and buying gifts for family members and friends. This is a one-time opportunity in a year when they can sit together and celebrate thanksgiving.

But the students find it stressful; they worry about their academic results. They have lots of assignment to do during the holidays that makes their enjoying the holiday stressful.

Junior Abby Pfriem, a student says he cannot enjoy holidays because of increased school homework during holiday time. Jon Wood a sophomore student has complained that he could not work extra hours due to his studies so he is short of finance and cannot buy the gifts. Junior Chandler Arnold complains that he is loaded with a midterm homework assignment.

Few students come from faraway places so they have to arrange for their journey and most of the time they exhaust the money for purchasing gas.

The students have various issues regarding coping with studies, they worry about failing in the exam, instead of passing in the exam that shows they were not prepared, and the finance is another problem together with mounting homework.

Students say that they carry their homework and assignments with them during the holiday period to complete their assignments that eat away their family enjoyment. Some students say they can manage the study period well but holiday makes them stressful.

The Huffington Post offers the student’s different methods to alleviate stress by participating in various activities like exercising, have proper sleep and keep hydrated, try to get an internship during the spring season, and have good study habits and social life and doing gym.

Students who are seen managing school well find themselves struggling during holidays due to mounting stress of studies, passing through exams and getting a good grade. As the students have to manage their own finance earning, studying and enjoying making them stressful, they are confused and unable to understand whom to give preference.

To solve the stressful situation the students should adopt the strategy that can allow them to enjoy their thanksgiving, and finish the assignment so that they can relax, they should engage themselves in activities they reduce their stress like exercising and get together with friends, keeping in mind that they have finished their work. They have to keep their aim that once the studies are over they can have better job, better salary and it would be relaxing when the life is settled in a better way taking the difficulty and hard work now would benefit in future because there are students who manage everything well and get success in their life.