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Advice from Weiss 11/04

The Commuter

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The question no one ever asks… How do I survive midterms?

Answer: Judging by the number of students that come to counseling in distress, midterms — not finals, not the first week of school — are the most stressful part of any quarter.

I imagine this is for the obvious reasons: The added pressure of exams coming on top of all the reading and writing, in combination with beginning to feel run down physically from the long hours that going to school — and having personal responsibilities — brings to almost all students. Throw in a financial problem and/or a personal problem, and any of us can find ourselves at a breaking point. Any of us!

So, how does one cope with all this? Well, allowing for the reality that we each have our own individual ways of coping (one person’s ceiling is another person’s floor, etc.), here are a few suggestions:

1. Reach out for help. This may mean that you ask a family member, a friend, or a life partner to take something off your plate. Not every student has someone in their life they can ask to help out, but most do. If you have a spouse, a child, a parent or a friend who you can ask, this is the time to do it. In our culture, most people feel uncomfortable getting help. We have a real “buck stops here” attitude toward life. I can’t tell you how many students I’ve heard say something like, “I’ll ask for help, but I’m going to wait until I really, really need it.” Well, THIS IS THE TIME. Stop being a tough guy and get help from the people in your life with your daily chores and things that need to get done around the house. In addition, this is the time to go to the Learning Center, the Disability Services lab, or the TRIO lab and get help with your schoolwork. These services exist for you, and the staff who work there want to help you, right now. Today!

2. A second way of reaching out is for emotional support and mental clarity, so that you can make strong decisions and set your priorities based on your goals. Sometimes you can get this kind of help from family or friends, but many times, this is the sort of thing students come into counseling for. Counselors can be found in the Career Center on the Albany Campus, as well as in our centers in Corvallis, Sweet Home, and Lebanon. If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed out for any reason, then we want you to see a counselor. This is a service that exists for you.

3. Do one thing each day that is for your own pleasure. If life is already stressful when midterms hit, it’s easy to get into putting your head down and trying to just plow through it all. Easy to try and work and work and work, until all your energy’s all gone and you just crash. And it’s that “crashing” part that’s trouble. Students who never do anything to rejuvenate themselves, to refresh themselves, are at risk for a great big burn out. It’s important to maintain at least a small amount of balance in your life. Maybe just fifteen minutes a day to do something fun or nice for yourself. Just to remember that life can be good, and when this stressful time passes, it will good again.

4. This is a great time, once again, to stop by the learning center, and ask for help in figuring out a study strategy. They will help you organize your work and teach you how to make good decisions about how, when, and what to study. Please take advantage of this great resource. And, if you haven’t done so already, consider taking a study skills class or a success strategies class. These kinds of courses will make a big difference to your long-term success.

5. Sleep! One of the biggest problems facing any student is getting enough sleep. There are so many things tugging at you, pressuring you, that students are always looking to “rob Peter to pay Paul” when it comes to managing time and work. But somehow, someway, you have to leave enough time to get a decent amount of rest. Bodies and minds need rest to function, and if you aren’t functioning well, you won’t test well. You won’t be able to pay attention as well in class. Your risk of making errors, even with the subjects you are strongest in, increases when you don’t get enough sleep. I was a student for a lot of years, and I remember not managing my time well and having to stay up all night writing papers to turn in the next day. Usually I got a good grade on the paper. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I had no ability to stay focused and really learn all that next day, so I fell behind in all my other subjects. Don’t let this happen to you. If you need help with time and study management, see any of the folks in any of the departments I have already mentioned. We want to help you succeed and we will help you prioritize so that you get the rest you need to be a strong learner.

Finally, hang in there, my friends. All things pass, even the hard times, and there is help for each of us in this world. Remember, we’re all in this together, and, like my friends at each of the service departments of this college, I’m pulling for you.

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