I am blessed to spend this weekend at Duke University, and tonight, I had dinner with Mark Goodacre, a professor of religion at the University. Since I have a very busy weekend ahead of me, I am going to keep this brief, but I wanted to touch on something we talked about concerning stress levels of college students.
Duke students are stigmatized as being constantly stressed out and always studying. Through conversation with current Duke students and Professor Goodacre, however, I realized once again that stress is a choice. It is our responsibility to take the challenges of the universe positively and constructively rather than negatively and in a stressed manner. Self-awareness and establishing your values before setting foot on campus is integral to the quest for positivity. I learned that some students go to the library for 15 hours on Sundays, Snapchat and Instagram for 13 of them, score terribly on their next tests, and experience intense disappointment that all those hours in the library did not pay off. This is why self-awareness and honesty are key to success. Furthermore, regularly spending that many hours in a library is a sign of imbalance, yet it is considered a bragging point by many. Let's remember that spending time outside the library to apply what we are learning, interacting with fellow human beings, exercising our bodies, and enjoying the environment around us are all wonderful uses of our time and not things to be regretted or ashamed of doing. Compartmentalization is also important: when going out for dinner, it is important to allow yourself to enjoy your social life and recognize its vitality in achieving your greater purpose rather than stress about assignments you still need to complete. As I gear up for college next year, these are all tips I must remember. I know many of you will face similar pressures and difficulties in college, and I hope these tips will help you CHOOSE happiness. You are not alone.
1 Comment
Betty
4/9/2017 10:31:29 am
Great advice!
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