Stress - Inform Speech

We’ve all had the feeling before. Your stomach is in knots. Your muscles are tense. You feel defeated. You feel low and unhappy. When you try to think of a solution, or of a way out, you go blank. You’re stressed. The American Institute of Stress defines stress as physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension. I’m very interested in the topic of stress management because as a college student I’m faced with all different kinds of stress. After reading articles on the topic I would like to inform all of you of a few reasons for stress and then some tips to help you manage your stress and make college life more enjoyable. First, I’ll talk about some of the reasons for stress. Although I’m sure that there are many everyone here probably has their own reasons, I’m going to stick to three main reasons that you can probably relate to. The first one is the amount of schoolwork. College can be so demanding due to such a heavy workload that we’re expected to keep up with. It’s so easy to get overwhelmed. We have projects, tests, papers, exams, midterms, finals, co-ops. Stress can easily build without a good strategy of tackling these assignments. A second reason is pressure to do well. Pressure to do well can come from within. That’s the inner drive, that inner motivation pushing you to succeed. Most here desire to do their best and to get good grades. The Methods of Healing website conducted research and found that 71 percent of college students say that their grades have a direct effect on their level of stress. Pressure to do well can also be external. That’s your family, your friends, your coaches, your teachers, your professors. Everybody who wants to see you succeed. Wanting to live up to the high expectations that they place on you can be pretty stressful. A third reason is change in environment. Now this may affect some of us more than others, depending on if you’re from Rochester or not, but going away to college means leaving behind everything that’s familiar.