Tag: stress

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News

Furry friends have come to help us through the study blues

Several times a month, Concordia University hosts dog therapy sessions open to all students in different locations across the downtown and Loyola campus.

“I think everybody right now is stressed all the time,” said Synneva Furuli, a computer engineering student at Concordia. “I think basically that’s kind of life right now, and dogs are so good, you just look at them and they’re so happy. Just be near them and they make you happy.”

Indeed, they’re cuddly, soft, friendly, and sweet.

Many of these dogs come from the Blue Ribbon Therapy Dogs, a nonprofit and volunteer organization in Montreal that provides dog and handler (therapy dog owner) evaluations and training.

“Therapy dogs work with their owners to provide services that improve people’s physical, emotional and communication abilities,” reads their website, followed by pictures of some of the organization’s available therapy dogs.

Harriet Schleifer, the founder and owner of Blue Ribbon Therapy Dogs, said she started the foundation because of the experience she had with her mother, who in her last years suffered from dementia and benefited greatly from having Schleifer arrive with her Shetland Sheepdogs.

“The only thing that helped her was my dogs,” said Schleifer. “And [it was] to the point where the people taking care of her would call and say we can’t get your mother to fill in the blank, take her bath, take her pills, eat her lunch, whatever; we need a dog. I’d go over there with the dog and whatever it was that we needed her to do and there was suddenly no problem.”

“We [humankind] kind of selected them for the dogs that relate best to people…now it feels that they can read our minds, because in a sense they can,” said Schleifer. “When I took Brandy there [a hospice], there was a gentleman that hadn’t spoken at a nursing home for eight years and he started to talk to her, like what did she do? Nothing you could see, she just sat down beside him and he petted her and he started talking to her. And after that he kept talking and started talking to the other people at the residence.”

Charles Altman, an advisor at the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities, also believes that there’s no doubt regarding the benefits of animal-assisted therapy in calming people down and centering them.

Altman described how at his previous work in HIV/AIDS services, he began a service called “Therapets,” a program that provided help and training so patients could keep their pets, even when they had to stay at the hospital. “We saw the real benefits, especially with people with immune system problems, it makes a huge difference in people’s morale and sense of wellbeing.”

In the middle of the session, a student stared blankly at her hands and rubbed them together. Lee Ehler, the therapy dog handler, noticing the change in her posture, asked if she needed a wipe for her to clean off any residue from dog kisses.

“No,” she replied, “I just have to go back to real life now.”

 

Feature photo by Cecilia Piga

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Student Life

How to manage your stress 101

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Are you already drowning in your readings? Have you already started panicking about all the deadlines you have to meet this semester? How about wondering how you’re going to balance your job, school, and homework, with the rest of your life? Already planning on quitting because you’re overwhelmed? Are you stressed out about the stress you’re going to be stressed about?

I know we’re only into the second week of school, but it’s normal to already be feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. Whether it’s your first year in university or your fifth, I’m not sure it gets any less stressful. But there can definitely be ways for you to manage your stress.

Keeping track

One of the most important things to do to try to keep your stress at a manageable level is to keep an agenda. This is important for a few reasons: first, it’s an easy way to keep track of all your classes, appointments, meetings, work shifts, and even to jot down when you’re going to have a night out with friends or family. By keeping an agenda — either in a planner or by using a digital option like Google Calendar — you’re able to keep track of everything you have going on in the upcoming week and for the rest of the month.

Another use for your agenda is to keep track of due dates. At the beginning of each semester, I like to comb through each class’s course outline and make a note of any deadlines for assignments, readings due, exams, papers, or presentations. I note them all down in two places: on the day each assignment is due as well as in the monthly view so I know what I need to work on throughout the month. By doing this, I can always keep track of what assignments have an approaching deadline and so you also don’t lose out on grades because you forgot about a five per cent quiz one day.

Stop procrastinating 

This brings me to my next point, which is to stop procrastinating. I might not be the best person to say this because the number of assignments I’ve handed in to professors that were hot off the printer is shameful. But at the same time, because I’ve done this so many times, I can definitely say it’s stressful constantly trying to beat the clock.

Always keep a lookout for approaching deadlines and try to get a head start on assignments. It seems like a simple enough thing to do but, trust me, time gets away from you quickly and soon you’re stuck writing three 12-page papers in a span of three days (true story).

Your shows are still going to be on Netflix after you’re done your assignment; there are going to be other nights out with your friends. You’ll still be able to do everything you want to do, but it’s best to get your work done first to avoid stressing out later.

To Do:

Once you’ve written everything in one place and you’ve finally decided to sit down and work on your assignments, it’s likely that you’ll be sitting at your desk, or at a coffee shop and start feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do. The best thing for the next step is to write a To Do list. Simple yet effective, To Do lists allow you to prioritize the work you need to get done. Personally, nothing can beat the satisfying feeling of physically crossing something off a To Do list; it makes me feel more accomplished and in control of everything I have to complete.

Depending on what you have to get done, your To Do list can start off in one of two ways: if you don’t have any impending deadlines but a lot is due around the same time in a few weeks, start off with the one that requires the most work and go down from there. If you’re like me and you have a lot of smaller assignments more frequently throughout the semester, write them down in order of closest deadline to not miss anything.

Put your well-being first

The most important way to manage your stress is to take care of yourself, first and foremost. While, yes, school is important and so is doing well, nothing is more important than your mental health. If you still feel overwhelmed and anxious under a lot of stress after implementing the outlined steps, just take some time for yourself.

Any little thing can help in reducing your stress when it gets past the point of feeling manageable. Take a couple of hours to yourself without technology and focus on your breathing, as I did during my spa day a few weeks ago.

If you’re feeling more on the edge of mental exhaustion, binge-watch your favourite show for a night. Spend some time with your family or your friends. Treat yourself to a little at-home spa treatment before bed. Work out to flush out the toxins and boost your mood. Take a walk, play with a puppy, sleep.

Whatever you do, try to manage your stress before your stress becomes unmanageable.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Categories
News

Stress levels rise with screen-addiction

While one hand is holding a phone, the other is distractedly tapping on the computer keyboard – and perhaps the television is on in the background. This scene is one that we have now become obliviously acclimated to. Screens are everywhere. How often do we truly stop to recognize the impact they have on our mental health?

A recent study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, led by neuroscientist Najmeh Khalili-Mahani, is taking a different approach in trying to understand the relationship between screen time and stress. Most studies previously conducted look at the effects of screen time with a focus on online gaming and gambling, TV, or internet addiction. The relationship to specific types of mental disorders, such as that between depression and social networking, has become a common conversation. Khalili-Mahani’s study uses a holistic approach to analyze the interrelation between different technologies used by the same person.

“It’s a post-modern study, the relation between everything, as opposed to cause and effect between one and the other,” said Khalili-Mahani, who is also an affiliate assistant professor in the Department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia. “We wanted to understand how the same person is using television and a smartphone. We are showing these interrelations between these technologies and this is allowing us to somehow zoom in on devices or on usages that are most likely to be associated with mental health or physical difficulties.”

The results reveal that all the different aspects of stress, such as financial or relationship difficulties, seem to be higher in individuals also suffering from screen addiction.

Moreover, the study shows that age and gender are key factors. Unsurprisingly, the effect on adults using social networks is not as significant as the younger generations or even women, said Khalili-Mahani.

“Everybody uses technology for finding information or working,” said Khalili-Mahani. “About 30 per cent of the population seems to be addicted to screens, in the sense that they are spending more than 8 hours of their daily time on the internet. Twenty per cent are also stressed and it’s those individuals who are both screen-addicted and stressed that have a significantly higher level of emotional stress.”

The study looks into individuals who already struggled with anxiety – whether emotionally or physically – and their relationship with these screens for various activities, such as relaxing, entertaining, and social networking. Computers, televisions, smartphones, all screens may serve as a coping mechanism for people who already suffer or are actively developing mental health disorders; and this is what needs to be unpacked, according to Khalili-Mahani.

As mental health is still a considerably social taboo topic, people do not necessarily associate the simple use of screens for consuming news, or work-related activities, with screen addiction. Khalili-Mahani pointed out the fact that there is a sense of social guilt when it comes to using technology, which arguably impedes the conversation surrounding screen addiction and stress. Yet, everyone is using technology, one way or another. According to Statistics Canada, the percentage of the population [using technology] is above 90 per cent in most provinces, no matter what category of addiction or stress groups they fit into.

Paradoxically, the goal of the research is not to find a solution to withdraw screen-addicted individuals from technology, but rather to develop information and communication technology, using screens for health care prevention. This could be quite a controversial approach, as some social movements are calling for technology’s total disengagement, such as quitting Facebook. Indeed, the abrupt rise of technology confronts us with a lack of comprehension, which can lead to demonization and even disdain. The more stressed or anxious someone is feeling, the greater the opportunity for escaping reality via the internet.

But finding a solution within the problem makes sense. Individuals suffering from both screen-addiction and intense levels of stress could find a familiar comfort as they are undeniably more drawn to these technologies, argued Khalili-Mahani. Using screen technologies to reach out to highly-stressed individuals and help with mental health diseases, such as depression or suicidal tendencies, are still under development. Nonetheless, it is a great step towards positively adapting rather than passively losing our inner personal battles with technology.

 

Photos by Laurence B.D.

Categories
Student Life

Spa day before school gets in the way

graphic by Wednesday Laplante, @sundaeghost

Summer 2019 has been busy. Between my retail job and my internship, I spent my days off catching up on chores, seeing friends and family, and just trying to be an adult as best as I could. All this running around led me to be more exhausted than I was at the beginning of the summer, which isn’t the best way to start off a new semester.

Last week, I went to the spa to try to take an actual day off before school starts; before I’m thrown into another eight months of stress before I can actually relax again. Since no technology is allowed and I went by myself, I was really all by myself — no one to talk to or to message, no work emails, no social media.

During the first hour there (out of five total), my mind kept thinking about work, about what other people were doing and posting on social media, what I would write for this week’s paper, etc. The time alone made me zero in on the fact that my brain never stops; it’s always thinking about something other than what’s happening in the moment.

What I did notice, though, was this feeling inside of me, what I could only describe as a ball of chaotic energy that made it a little bit difficult to breathe. I realized that it was a feeling of mild anxiety and stress that I hadn’t really noticed before because I was always on the go.

After focusing on my breathing, my mind started slowing down, and I became more present in the moment: I stopped thinking of work, I forgot about social media. I even lost track of time despite there being clocks everywhere. I became so focused on my breathing and on trying to really relax that I fell asleep.

Over the next couple of hours, I really took that time by myself for myself. I tried out all the different options the spa had available: I went from the hot rooms/water to cold baths, then fell asleep. After a few rounds of this little routine, the ball of stress and anxiety that felt like it was consuming my chest and stomach at the beginning of my day had significantly reduced. I felt at peace, less stressed, and more aware of my body. With school having started, it’s inevitable that we’re going to be stressed.

The point of this little story is to remind you to be mindful of the effects stress has on you, both mentally and physically. You don’t have to go to a spa to try to de-stress; simply be mindful of your breathing, remain aware of the effects of stress on you before it feels like it’s too much to handle.

When you feel that ball of chaotic energy beginning to build up, take some time (even a few hours) to be away from technology and other people. Take some time alone to focus on your breathing, treat yourself to some at-home spa-like treatments, take a nap — you’ll wake up feeling refreshed, less stressed, and more at peace.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

Categories
Student Life

Great expectations, at what expense?

Feature graphic by @spooky_soda

Cramming to finish your degree isn’t worth the mental exhaustion

Take a step back and look at your life from a different angle. Are you happy? Are you okay?

There’s a significant amount of pressure on students to achieve something in their young adult life, so much so that sometimes people forget that expectations aren’t always great. More often than not, this pressure comes from within. The individual lens that we see life through is tinted with the wants and needs of external factors: parents, society, friends, and the need to ‘become.’ It’s not a simple feat to differentiate between what’s really best for you and what you think is best, because of all these factors.

In 2016, The Charlatan published an article highlighting different factors contributing to university dropout rates. According to the article, most students leave because they’re unsure if their program is right for them.

“In the first year, dropouts were already struggling in terms of meeting deadlines, academic performance and studying patterns,” according to The Youth in Transition Study sourced in The Charlatan. “Compared to graduates and graduate continuers, more dropouts felt they had not found the right program,” the study stated.

Here’s the truth: deciding on your future at 18 is practically impossible. You’re told to make the most important decision of your life at an age when your brain is still evolving. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, the human brain isn’t fully developed until the age of about 25.

When you wake up one morning and ask yourself if what you’re doing is worth the stress, money, and effort you’re putting into it, remember you’re allowed to change your mind, take a break and refocus your lens.

“Overall, being out of school let me take time to focus on myself,” said Rachel Doyon, a student in Montreal. “It also made me miss school—I think that was the biggest benefit. Being reminded that I was in university because it was something I was passionate about, not just an obligation. I still get little pangs of disappointment when my peers graduate ‘on time,’ but it was the best choice.”

‘On time’ is the key term here: this is exactly the kind of ‘want’ or ‘need’ that we associate with ourselves, but really it’s an outside factor. The concept of graduating on time is not at all an objective conventional setting: the only timeline that matters is your own personal clock. Granted, there are several factors that affect when you graduate: maybe your parents pay for your education and you don’t want to prolong it, or perhaps you have to prolong it because you pay for it yourself.

According to a study on persistence in post-secondary education in Canada done by York University, only 57 per cent of students aged 18 to 20 graduated, or are continuing in post-secondary education, 8 per cent of which were enrolled and dropped out. Students aged 20 to 22 had 14 per cent drop out rate of the 60 per cent enrolled in university.

“Even though my parents wouldn’t have minded, I just would’ve felt weird, like I fell off the train,” said Ali Sabra, a Lebanese student who was offered a year-long internship abroad, but refused because it didn’t feel right to take two semesters off. “Being in Lebanon, it’s virtually unfathomable to ‘take a year off.’ It’s the rush thing for sure.”

Culture played a big role in Sabra’s decision-making, but being in a rush to graduate is rather universal. In all fairness, it’s okay to want to graduate as soon as possible. You might not want to pass up an opportunity that would benefit you more in the future in the name of finishing sooner.

“I went into psychology because my parents got so excited, but I wasn’t sure I liked it,” said Noura Nassreddine, a previous American University of Beirut student. “The next year, I told my parents I didn’t like it and I needed to take a break, so I did.” During her gap semester, Nassreddine found what she really loved, and is now on her way to becoming a Paris-trained baker. Nassreddine’s experience is a reminder that your 18-year-old self doesn’t always know what you want your future to look like.

Choosing a career path is not a light task, and yes, sometimes you aren’t ready to decide where to go straight out of high school. It’s okay to go in blind and try things out, and then decide to change your mind. If you have the means, the patience, and the will, go find what’s best for you. When making decisions, consider which you’d regret more: doing it, or not doing it, whatever ‘it’ is.

All in all, taking time for yourself is as important as finishing your degree. Making sure the degree you’re getting is what you want to continue with and is important, too. Remember that your mental health is a key aspect of your success—take care of yourself so you can have the mental capacity to achieve your goals. Sometimes retreating is important to help put things into perspective. At the end of the day, life will bring you all sorts of problems in the future, so what’s an extra semester or two, anyway?

Feature GIF by @spooky_soda

Categories
Opinions

Editorial: Enjoy a guilt-free break!

Graphic by @spooky_soda

It’s finally happening. Soon, we’ll get the break we all deserve. We at The Concordian think it’s safe to assume that this semester has been hectic and exhausting for most of us.

The seemingly infinite weight of deadlines, assignments, projects, essays—we cannot wait until everything is finally submitted and done with. We thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this last editorial of the semester to promoting a radical idea: you can be lazy this upcoming break.

A recent CBC Radio piece highlighted why we should stop being so obsessed with productivity. “We tend to judge other people and their status by the number of hours of work they put in every week,” Brad Aeon, a researcher at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business, told the CBC. The piece also featured some of Aeon’s rules about time management, which include prioritizing leisure time over work and being clear about your boundaries. His research emphasizes that it’s OK to set your own limits and disregard other people’s expectations about how much a person should work.

Perhaps taking a step away from a productivity-oriented lifestyle doesn’t have to mean a lesser work output. One of the fundamental pillars of behavioural psychology is that positive reinforcement creates desirable behaviour patterns. It’s important to reward yourself as a means of self-care, but also because this will ultimately lead to a lifestyle that effectively balances responsibilities in healthy ways. Rewards are what make hard work meaningful. If you take the time to let yourself experience them, you will be more driven when it’s time to work again.

Developing a rhythm of hard work mixed with downtime is not encouraged in our super productive, go-go-go society. We often celebrate overworking ourselves to the brink of exhaustion and dismiss the importance of finding a healthy relationship with our work. In fact, in Aeon’s research, he noticed a tendency for people to view productivity as an investment in their happiness. With this mentality, productivity takes on a sort of desperate, addictive quality that consistently leaves people unsatisfied with their performance level. This contributes to an environment in which everyone is constantly working themselves to the extreme and reinforcing an unrealistically high standard for work output. Aeon proposes an important idea that happiness doesn’t lie in overworking yourself, but rather in taking lengthy amounts of time for self-care.

We do realize, however, that this is all easier said than done. Taking time for yourself can be guilt-inducing. As students, most of our free time is overshadowed by impending deadlines for assignments or projects, and so moments of self-care can feel like simple procrastination. There is no easy answer for how to combat this feeling during the semester—sometimes there simply isn’t enough time for self-care, and the boundaries between self-care and procrastination can become blurred. That is precisely why it is so important to let yourself experience the reward of relaxation during the winter break.

Of course, your break will not be void of responsibility or anxiety. You may be working full-time, Christmas shopping or attending stressful family gatherings. But you can still take a break from less urgent pressures in your life. At the end of the semester, the stress of school is replaced by other anxieties—like getting work experience, reading books or making new friends—and while these may be important, remember that it is OK just to chill out for a few weeks after a taxing semester. We at The Concordian celebrate guilt-free self-care and taking an adequate amount of time to focus on yourself. Enjoy your break!

Graphic by @spooky_soda

Categories
Opinions

It really is easier said than done

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

One student’s realization that the balancing act is harder than she thought

Back in April, I wrote a piece in The Concordian about balancing life and school. I emphasized the importance of remembering that you can’t do better than your absolute best. What I was trying to convey could be summed up as the following: 1) make time for your friends and family; 2) don’t forget about hobbies and fitness; 3) don’t forget to work on yourself—take a break when you’re tired, sleep when you need to, take a bath or whatever else. An important final point I made was this: “It’s so utterly important to take a break and give your mind time to recuperate from the constant stress and thinking it does.”

Maybe I was naive or maybe it was because I was in my first year, when everything is arguably much easier than in second year. What I’ve come to realize is this: I’ve since become a hypocrite. I no longer stand by the idea that you can balance your school, work, and social life easily.

This semester, I somehow managed to balance five courses and three jobs, one of which was in retail, which I quit because I got a job as a journalist. Despite this, I’m still extremely worn out; I don’t have an off-button. My work day starts when I wake up, the moment I open my laptop, and it doesn’t end until I go to sleep. One of my jobs is as a research journalist, where I thoroughly research a subject about entertainment and write 3,000 words on it. My other job is a copy editor for this paper, as one of four people who makes sure there are no mistakes and everything follows our writing style. Four of my five classes require extensive writing. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, I freelance. I offer to edit my friends’s assignments, and I contribute as a writer to this paper—as I’m doing now, which I really shouldn’t be doing because I have an essay due in a few days that I haven’t started. Yet, here I am.

Some of you may think I’m crazy for taking on all these projects, but I feel like it’s part of millennial journalism culture. Last year, first year journalism students attended conferences where professionals spoke about their careers and the paths leading to where they are now. It seemed like everyone was balancing multiple projects at the same time, be it school and a job, or school and an internship, or all three. I quickly understood that, to succeed in this industry, you have to hop on the train and go full speed ahead.

At the same time, there’s also a feeling of FOMO (fear of missing out). I’ve been putting myself out there and trying to make connections in order to advance my career, but at what cost? I may be over working and overwhelming myself, with my sanity and personal life taking a considerable hit, but I don’t want to look back on my time and see missed opportunities.

By thinking so much about my future—which, in reality, isn’t so far away—I’ve neglected my own advice. I haven’t had much time for friends or family; I haven’t been active in months; and I’ve been overworking myself to hell. My mom is worried I’m on the edge of a burnout or mental breakdown, but I keep assuring her I’m not—I know it’ll be worth it in the end. While I may be suffering temporarily and am beyond exhausted all the time, I’ve made new friends, written content I’m proud of, managed to stay on top of my classes, and, all in all, I’m living my best life. But I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t acknowledge the sacrifice I now realize it takes to make all this happen.

Graphic by Ana Bilokin

 

Categories
Student Life

Slice of Life: Overexpectations

What happened to stopping to smell the roses?

Higher education is a privilege not everyone has access to, and we’re all extremely fortunate for the learning opportunities at Concordia, but crap is it ever tiring. After three full years spent in Montreal either working my butt off at school, or working my butt off to pay for school, I’m just about done (realistically I still have a year or so left, though—whoop-dee-doo). But it’s not the prospect of hard work that leaves me feeling discouraged; it’s the feeling that I’m not doing enough. The feeling that being in school full-time, working for The Concordian part-time (read: full-time), and trying to pick up whatever photography gigs I can still isn’t enough.

Just the other week, I was talking with my roommate about how I want to spend this summer. Working outdoors is something I fell in love with in 2015, before moving to Montreal, when I worked as a canoe trip counselor in Algonquin Park, a provincial park in southeastern Ontario. Getting outside and into nature is something I’ve been itching to do every summer since then, for my own sanity. Yet, when having this conversation with my roommate, I found myself bringing up my degree, the benefit of staying in Montreal for another summer to take extra classes, maybe pick up an internship; all to get ahead. But of what? Of who?

I’m not sure what makes me more upset: the fact that I have this competitive desire to finish my degree quickly and move on, or the fact that I’m probably going to end up taking classes and whatever internship I think will boost my CV the most. There was one semester, one blissful (yes, blissful) few months in fall 2017, when I thoroughly enjoyed all of my classes. Not only that, but I was proud of the work I was accomplishing, both in and outside the lecture hall. But toward the end of post-secondary education, professors start encouraging students to envision how their degrees fit into their career paths. While this isn’t inherently negative, the insane pressure many of us feel to find that career path early on and pursue every available opportunity within that field, to differentiate ourselves and come out on top is kind of negative (cheers, capitalism), no?

What happened to stopping and smelling the roses? Enjoying the journey, and not the destination? I’ve had one-too-many conversations with students already working full-time in their final years of university who only show up to classes on mandatory attendance days or to hand in assignments because they’re simply done with school. Or students who are in school full-time, pursuing a full-time internship, and also trying to work part-time who have absolutely no time for themselves.

The constant pressure to go above and beyond comes from the overexpectations we all feel, and it really friggin’ sucks. It translates to us constantly focusing on the next stage of our lives, as opposed to drawing value from our current place in life and really growing as individuals.

Feature graphic by @spooky_soda

Categories
Opinions

The life and hard times of a Concordia student

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

Here are some tips on how to become a better version of yourself this semester

Welcome all Concordians, old and new, to the fall semester! As a new academic year kicks off, the campuses are buzzing with students as we swarm the halls and classrooms. Some of us are back to conquer yet another year, and the rest of you are beginning your journey as a Concordian. Either way, after a long summer off from school, we all need some time to mentally prepare and readjust to student life.

I don’t know about you, but even after a few weeks, I’m still having trouble accepting the busy semester ahead. But denial won’t get me anywhere. The semester is here; there is no stopping this train. After five years of experience as a Concordia student—I’m finishing my master’s in environment—the best advice I can give you is to dive in head first.

Now, some of you might be afraid to do this. You may be wondering if you’ll sink or swim. That is a valid question, but my answer is simple.

How can you sink when you’re surrounded by life preservers? If you’re struggling to stay afloat and on top of your academic work, just reach out and grab one. We’re surrounded by so much support, you just have to know where to look.

First thing’s first: Get with the program, literally. We may dread, at least a little bit, the idea of starting another semester, but at the university level, we’re here because we want to be. And if you’re going to do anything, do it right! It’s important to remember we signed up for this life of learning, and we’re so lucky to be in an environment that allows us to grow intellectually, socially and personally.

To take advantage of a full Concordia experience, here are some tips on how to excel as a Concordia student and tap into your inner nerd.

Start by balancing your social and academic lives. You need to be able to do both in order to stay sane. Detach every so often and redirect your energy so you can perform better when you return to  your studies. Try joining a student club or association, attend campus events, or volunteer. These are great opportunities to learn new skills outside of the classroom. Get involved in something you enjoy.

Take care of your physical and mental health. As students, it’s easy to live off of coffee and Timmie’s bagels for extended periods of time. But a healthy body and mind will help you with your studies. Be mindful of what you eat and how much you’re sleeping.

As for dealing with the inevitable roller coaster of emotions, stress and anxiety that come with being a student, know that you’re not alone. We’re all going through the same thing, and what you’re experiencing is normal. You can also check out Concordia’s Counselling and Psychological Services for more tips or if you want to speak with a professional.

But before all else, to excel as a student, you must adopt a student mindset. Get back on track, stop procrastinating and do those readings. Be the best student you can be. Be curious and dare to ask the questions no one is asking. Think outside the box and challenge your professors. Understand that they are people too, and they’re not always right. Be open to other student’s perspectives; you can learn a lot from your peers. And take advantage of the services available to us for help in all areas of student life. If you’re not sure what help you need or where to find it, stop by the Welcome Crew offices on either campus and a student mentor (maybe even me, if I’m on shift) will be happy to help.

Lastly, make the right friends for the right things. Who you hang out with and when is key to being a good student. Form study groups for your classes, and find like-minded people to motivate you through your studies and push you to do better. When studying, embrace your inner Concordia nerd. Remember that sometimes (not always) there needs to be a distinction between the friends you have for your academic life and the people in your social life. Your study friends are your study friends and your Reggies friends are your Reggies friends, but you’ll need both to kill it at Concordia.

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

 

Categories
Opinions

Editorial: Sad, stressed and spread too thin

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante.

Whoever said absence makes the heart grow fonder was obviously lying. Absence from university does not make the heart grow fonder. In fact, saying goodbye to summer just makes our distaste for the demands of university grow stronger. While we’d love to write a hopeful and chirpy editorial about back to school thoughts, we at The Concordian thought it’d be best to be honest during this time of year.

If you’re looking for a happy editorial, you should probably stop reading now. Actually, scratch that––we’ll always welcome readers, both new and old. But, let’s be honest here: most of us aren’t happy about coming back to Concordia. And if you are happy, then well…that’s pretty great, actually. We’re happy for you. But for those of you who are in the same boat as us, let’s use this space to rant about how crappy this upcoming semester will be.

Let’s face it: most of us are probably going to end up with bad teachers––or worse, we’ll end up being forced to teach ourselves the material because our professors will read off of useless PowerPoints. Sometimes, Rate My Professor doesn’t do its job in helping us choose the best instructors. “Hot” and “Easy” aren’t good enough criteria at this point. Will our professors make us uncomfortable by making inappropriate jokes? Will they deduct points if our margins aren’t the right size?

As if that’s not stressful enough, most of us are probably scrambling to try and figure out what our next move is. Should we apply for that internship that seems too good to be true? Should we plan to get a master’s because our first undergrad seems to be completely useless? So many choices, yet so little motivation to pursue any of them.

And for those of us who actually do have side gigs at the same time as school, the word “balance” seems like a made-up term used by wizards. How are we expected to balance our work life and school life, when it feels like we don’t even have lives at all? Working our bottoms off at a part-time, minimum wage job to earn some money while simultaneously writing 14 pages for a one credit course is clearly an unrealistic expectation. Not only that, but our CV needs some “pizazz” too — we need volunteering experience, organization names and reference letters from people who are supposed to vouch for our crappy characters. Where do we find the time and energy for all of this?

The truth is, university isn’t always a fun time. And we should stop being expected to live our best lives at a time where everything just doesn’t seem that great. It’s okay to be mediocre, and it’s okay to strive for an average university experience. We don’t need to constantly sign up for organizations—we don’t need to put more on our plate than we can handle just so our CV looks great. We can be regular kids, who attend class (sometimes) and we should be okay with this. Whoever said university is supposed to be the best time of our lives was probably living in Finland, where education is actually considered to be the best. In reality, most of us aren’t having a great time. We’re acne-ridden, stressed, depressed and certainly not well-dressed.

In all seriousness though, having access to higher education is a privilege, one that we at The Concordian don’t take for granted. Having said that, returning to the world of academia can be daunting and discouraging. Take a deep breath, have a moment of silence for your impending student debt and know that you’re not alone in feeling a little hopeless at this time of year.

Welcome back.

Graphic by Wednesday Laplante

 

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How to prepare yourself for the apocalypse

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth.

The birds are chirping, the snow is melting, and the sun is shining. But most of us are probably too preoccupied to be admiring these beautiful changes. Instead, we’re preparing for the apocalypse: finals are coming. It’s not unusual for students to be panicked, anxiety-ridden and stressed out at this time of year. This is why we at The Concordian thought this editorial could be useful for students facing these obstacles.

According to the 2013 National College Health Assessment, 33 per cent of Canadian post-secondary students are stressed. Among those people, 27.4 per cent have anxiety issues and 21.3 per cent have sleep problems. We all know how the accumulation of stress from homework and finals preparation can affect our sleeping schedule. Most of us stay up much later than we should to catch up on readings and assignments we left until the last minute. Our go-to substance is coffee, and although it might help us feel more productive, coffee actually increases anxiety, according to a 2010 study conducted by the experimental psychology department at the University of Bristol.

We might also find ourselves relying on comfort food to feel better, like ice cream or macaroni and cheese. But according to Harvard Health Publishing, while these foods release brain chemicals that help us feel good in the moment, processed foods are higher in sugar and caffeine which can cause our body more distress in the long run. So, in the fight against stress, start by picking up a couple of blueberries which contain antioxidants that improve our reaction to stress. Pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds are also known to alleviate depression and fatigue, according to the same source. Zinc in cashews can help reduce anxiety; spinach can produce dopamine in the brain and calm you down; milk’s Vitamin D can boost happiness; and carbohydrates in oatmeal help the brain produce serotonin and essentially battle stress.

Students can also look to Concordia for help. The Stress Management page on Concordia’s website in the Healthy Living section includes a stress management worksheet that can help students identify their stressor and offers possible stress management strategies. A list of ways to combat stress includes deep breathing, massages, exercise, meditation, working on hobbies or developing new ones, as well as spending time with loved ones.

Campus services also include the Zen Den, a place where students can find peace and serenity when they feel overwhelmed or stressed out. It’s open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Zen Den is located in GM 300 on the downtown campus and includes comfortable seating, warm lighting and soothing images. It also has resources to practice stress reduction and workshops that can help with your wellbeing. Staff members are present to provide techniques for self-care, and upcoming workshops will be based on mindfulness, anxiety and panic attacks, as well as positive psychology.

Concordia also offers counselling and psychological services to help students maintain their mental health, as well as gymnasiums and fitness centres for students looking to relieve tension and boost their physical health.

It’s easy to feel alone and helpless when our stress is a huge, seemingly all-too powerful monster. But it’s important to remember that help is available, through Concordia and through easy at-home remedies. Take the time to eat healthy foods to boost your mood and reduce your stress. Take a nap, avoid the coffee and go outside for a walk. If you feel severely overwhelmed or panicked, reach out to Concordia’s counselling and psychological services to book an appointment with a professional.

On a more positive note, at least we’re all on this stress-filled boat together.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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You can’t do better than your best

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

Finding balance in life is important, but make sure not to fall over the edge  

Being a student is stressful. You have classes to think about and all of the work that comes with them. You likely have a job on the side. Not to mention, you have a social life, a family, hobbies, maybe a sport or some form of exercise you like to do to unwind and de-stress. There’s so much going on in our lives—how can we balance it all?

There’s no easy answer to this. In fact, there isn’t one. Someone once told me: “You can’t do better than your best,” and I think that’s the best motto to live by, not just as a student but for the rest of your life. There will be times when you’ll be so overwhelmed that one aspect of your life might have to take a hit, be it your sleep schedule, job or social life. If you try to get everything done perfectly, your health—either physical or mental—will be affected. It’s important to know your limits so you don’t push yourself to the point of a nervous breakdown (they aren’t pleasant).

I’m well aware that school is important. I’ve been an A student most of my life; I know the pressure that comes with maintaining good grades and being the best you can be. The thing is, though, many aspects in our lives are so much more difficult than they were in high school or CEGEP. University is harder. We’re adults with responsibilities now. We have a lot more going on in our lives. It might not be as feasible to expect A’s on every assignment or exam in every class.

It’s okay if you get a C on an assignment you worked really hard on. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for doing our best. We’re often too focused on the final grade instead of the effort we put in. It’s important to remember your worth as a person is not defined by your grades, and a handful of C’s won’t ruin your career. Make time for friends and family, because they are the ones who will be there for you when school is out for the summer, and when you finally graduate. They’re the ones who will help you have fun and relieve your stress when you need it the most.

Don’t forget to leave time for hobbies when you’re busy, because they can help you unwind and relax. Fitness, for example, can directly impact your health and stress levels in a positive way, and it’s important to make time for exercise if you enjoy it. Those few hours a week effortlessly doing what you love will help clear your mind at the end of a stressful week, or between the last-minute grinds of final projects.

Don’t forget to work on yourself too. Take a break when you get tired, call up your family when you get lonely, sleep all day if you need to, take a bath, do yoga or kickboxing, go for coffee with a friend. It’s so important to give your mind time to recuperate from the constant stress and thinking.

By reminding myself that I can’t do better than my best, I’ve learned to better understand my limitations, to know when it’s time to take a break and regroup. I am and always have been a perfectionist; anyone who knows me also knows I always put too much on my plate. I like everything to be organized and perfect. Yet, I’ve realized and learned that I can’t control everything. I’ve learned how to make time for myself. I’m now able to say no to certain things to avoid spreading myself too thin.

It’s okay not to be 100 per cent all the time, as long as you’re doing your best and taking care of yourself. You can’t always balance everything; but remember things will always balance themselves out in the end.

Graphic by Alexa Hawksworth

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