April 4–10, 2007, Number 438
The Library Great Room is a popular place to study, especially on days when you can feel the warmth of the sun through the large windows. It's also one of our featured webcams. See the shoe prints on the floor? Have your student stand in this region for an enhanced conversation. It could be a stress buster for both parties.
The Stress is Building
It is Week 11 and many students are starting to feel some pressure with the end of the semester approaching. If your student is on a senior design team or in an enterprise, from my experience, time is becoming a scarce commodity. With end of semester deadlines looming in the horizon, stress starts to build up.
Stress is something that all students face and is not usually a major problem for most. Although, with the end of the semester coming up, there may be many late nights in the lab and the idea of eating a healthy diet may get put on the back burner. Also with more things happening, students may not be keeping a regular exercise schedule. All of these things can really let stress build up in one's system. As I have found, probably the biggest cause of stress that can be avoided is procrastination.
Excessive stress is not hard to see in students. There are some major signs that can be seen and heard when talking to students:
-
- Loss of interest
- Excessive or loss of appetite
- Emotional instability
- Insomnia
- Poor concentration
- Increased urge to smoke or drink
As parents, you know your students quite well. Many times, parents can tell something is wrong just by hearing the student’s voice over the phone. If you talk with your student and find that stress is a problem, try to help your student cope in a non-lecturing way. Suggest that they get more sleep, schedule time for exercise, and try to schedule time for projects so they don’t come up at the last minute. Some students think drinking or use of drugs can relieve stress, though it only makes stress worse and provides an opening for other problems to start.
In the Houghton area there are a number of massage therapists that can be found in the Yellow Pages. I find this a great solution to relax tight and tense muscles, to back away from a stressful situation, and to regroup.
If your student feels too overwhelmed with stress, they are welcomed and encouraged to visit the counseling center on campus. Appointments can be made in person or over the phone. For more information, visit the MTU Counseling Services website. For emergencies, students can go there without an appointment and will be seen by a counselor as soon as possible.
If there are ever any topics that you feel should be addressed, please send me a personal email and I will try my best to include them in my future articles.
Until next week,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885