Business
Using Loan To Fund College Education Tactfully
September 6, 2021
November 15, 2021
Having to pursue college during a pandemic has left 95% of college students with negative mental health symptoms, according to a survey from BestColleges.com, impacting their academic performance and early career success. Since 2014, anxiety and depression have been college students’ leading mental health issues, according to research conducted by Boston University.
Members of Generation Z, who are currently in college and entering the workforce, tend to be appreciation-driven and love opportunities to showcase their abilities in the workplace, according to Empxtrack, a human resources software firm.
“If you spread yourself out too thin, nothing is gonna get done the way you want it. It’s easier to work with a smaller amount of work or to break things down into castes of work that’s easier for you and more manageable,” Boso said.
She suggested taking things slowly and in small portions to manage feelings of anxiety. Addressing these issues early on is important because left unaddressed, it can fester into issues for recent graduates’ professional development.
Watch your perfectionist tendencies
Maria Offutt, a graduate of the Ohio State University and current internal recruitment manager for Teach For America (TFA), was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder while working in her first post-graduate role as an elementary school teacher.
“I remember my parents coming up to see me about six months into teaching my first year … and they were like, ‘You look different …’ The reason I looked different was because I had lost 15 pounds since the last time I saw them because I was so overwhelmed with my anxiety … my anxiety was no longer social, it was like generalized anxiety disorder that was not going away any time soon,” Offutt reflected.
Offutt felt much pressure in her role, fearfully questioning: ‘Am I good enough? Am I what my kids deserve? Am I the kind of caring leader in the classroom that will really benefit these kids?’ One thing a lot of people do is get hung up on things that didn’t go their way. They view it as somehow they failed. If you have those perfectionist tendencies, take a second to just reframe them.
Rebecca Heiss, a stress physiologist, and a public speaker explained how cognitive reframing can alter our interaction with stress and anxiety. “Instead of accepting something as a failure, view it as a lesson,” she said.
Some of the early professionals and college students I spoke to use some of these tips to their advantage.
“The one thing that helps me the most is always interacting with others…it’s so helpful to have people you can talk to,” Lin said.
Robinson has adopted many outlets that don’t relate to the legal field to set the boundary between his academic life and personal life.
“I like cooking now… exercise… a little bit of yoga…I like journaling,” he said.
Current college students and entry-level professionals have spent most of their lives with someone else (parents, teachers, etc.) being in charge of their time. Now, time belongs to them, and it’s so much more than deciding when to study, when to go out and when to go to sleep — or stay up late. It’s about actively managing time and activities and recognizing when anything becomes overwhelming.
Need to take a break? Slow down or ask for help. Otherwise, that stress can snowball out of control and wreak havoc on our lives and mental health.
Over the holiday break, take a few minutes to assess your stress level and see if there are changes you need to make to keep the balance. Ask yourself: How is my stress level? Is it too much? What can I do to manage it better? And if you need help or support, ask for it. Just because you are on your own in college doesn’t mean you have to go it alone. Ask a friend, a family member or contact your university’s counseling center.
