Having a stress-free education in degree streamlines the journey of a student while also enhances the effectiveness of their learning outcomes
Albert Einstein quoted once, “Never regard study as a duty but as an enviable opportunity to feel liberating beauty of your own personal joy.” That said, this great scientist never looked back in registering numerous successes. Work was his passion. Study was his breathe. Possibly, all the students cannot have so intensifying interest like an Albert Einstein, one can substantially achieve, a least of stress free studies in degree. But, this seems tough.
According to a journal SQUMJ, about 25 percent of the students either undergo through mild stress, moderate stress or severe stress. The study was conducted taking a sample size of 1200 students that included students from diverse fields like dental, medical and engineering. The following table is an in-depth representation of the statistics:
The fruitful usage of existing student welfare systems and periodic extracurricular activities could be effective stress-busters.
Distribution of stress levels according to the field of Education
Out of the 1,400 distributed and collected questionnaires, 1,224 were filled up. Overall, there were 401 dental students, 417 engineering students and 406 medical students. Also, out of all the students in study, 676 (55.23 percent) were female and 548 (44.77 percent) were male. Respondents were 18–25 years old. A total of 396 (32.3 percent) of the respondents were from rural areas, while 828 (67.7 percent) were from the urban area.
Out of the total respondents, stress was present in 299 (24.42 percent); of these, mild stress was present in 123 respondents (10 percent), while 93 (7.6 percent) had moderate stress and 83 (6.8 percent) had severe stress, says the report of the journal.
It can be concluded from the statistics that students from all 3 fields are exposed to stress. Stress is a serious issue that leads to a state of persistent anxiousness, mood changes including depression, frustration, anger and sleeplessness. Students feel out of control and start neglecting important things in life such as work, school and even the personal appearance. They tend to develop irrational fears like physical illness or natural disasters. They even feel terrified under the ordinary situations of heights or small spaces. Their minds mostly run negative thoughts thereby attracting stressful situations. While, occasionally experiencing one or the two symptoms may not be a cause of concern, having a number of these symptoms is a sign of underlying stress.
The question arises – What is the true cause of the stress among degree students?
The factors of stress can be classified into three types: Academic factors, lifestyle factors and societal factors. Academic factors affect a student to large extent where pressure to score beyond the cut-off marks, read vast curriculum and attend numerous competitive exams puts a student in a pressurized situation. Instead of developing natural interest on a subject, a student often feels the burden of tens of subjects on his/her head.
Tips to manage the stress
Choose what you like: To give an analogy, if one goes to an ice-cream parlour, one would only select the flavor he/she likes. If one likes vanilla but instead hasa guava flavor ice-cream, it’s natural to not enjoy it.
Similar, is the academics, where one should select the subject he/she would really like to pursue. Ask yourself what have you liked doing since your childhood. If you can’t get an answer by yourself, take the help of close friends or relatives who understand you completely. If not, there are also professional student-counselors who try and analyze your interests and give various options on the platter.
Register Active Presence: It is very important to attend the classes on regular basis once you choose the subject
of your interest. Active participation in the classroom and clearing doubts from the lecturers creates an aura for learning. Devulapalli Vivek, 24, a PhD student in Max-Planck, shares with HEP, “Being involved in classes and discussing doubts with professors helps throughout the study life.”
Check the weightage: Thirdly, checking the weightage of each chapter helps a student ideate the study plan accordingly. With the right action plan in place, one can minimize/maximize focus on each topic and manage the time as well.
Besides students, the teaching environment can do play a role in helping students manage the stress. Teaching techniques and college environments can adapt changes as per the student needs. The fruitful usage of existing student welfare systems and periodic extracurricular activities could be effective stress-busters.
Additionally, teachers, parents and even students themselves should understand the negative implications of excessive academic expectations. It’s good to be realistic, identify what can be changed and act wisely.
