Finding Ways to Cope in your Environment
byÌýEmma Brammer, Bennett LarabeeÌýand Jacob SandersonÌý
Through the memes, news articles, online exercises, and everything in between, we can tell how hard this time period is for everyone. For college students, we are used to jamming in study time at our library and running from class to class, and being constantly surrounded by the excellent company of our friends. What now? How long does this last? Will this go until next semester as well? These questions are causing crippling overwhelmingness for all of us, so what do we do? My fellow classmates and I decided to take another survey to go more in depth into what exactly is causing us to go stir crazy and what we can do to cope and find ways to distract ourselves from the everyday worries and doubt.
A good place to start is how to actually take in school material and feel like you are actually learning. Out of around a hundred respondents, ninety two point six of college students feel as though they learn better at school. Only seven point four percent said both home and school and no one said only home. Why is this? Why is it that even students who have resources such as internet connection, a desk, and other tools still can’t succeed in their new environments? More than half of respondents said that they need a separate space where they can do their school work, they don’t want to be in the same place where they relax and unwind. As college students we spend a huge majority of our time completing classwork outside of the designated class time. Whether that is in a study room or somewhere in the library, our mindspace is separated into two different areas. One way in which students can create an area where they feel as though they aren’t in their home is by creating a real life cubical. I know, the word cubical is scary, but if we have one place where we have no distractactions around us then it could tremendously help us be more efficient and focused. Just think about it as a flash from the past, putting old folders up to the sides to eliminate distractions around us and putting all the materials we need down in front of us while leaving our phone behind. Another useful tip can be to work next to a window if you do not have outdoor space. The fresh air always helps to clear our minds and having natural light can naturally keep you awake while trying to cram in some last minute studying prior to an exam. Lastly, we found that a lot of students would just benefit from prepared study guides and better office hours (zoom hours) from their professors.
When asking respondents on how they decompress and get their mind off current events most people responded with watching tv and exercising. When you are being physically active and are exercising, endorphins are released in your brain that make you feel positive and happy! It is so important to be exercising during this time since it is not only important for our physical health, but it is vital to our mental health as well.
The last thing we asked our constituents was what makes them the most upset in their environment. More than half of the respondents said that just the fact that they can’t see their friends is the most upsetting thing to deal with.
Additionally, a third of respondents do not get along well with their family members and are having a hard time coping with long amounts of time with family and no contact with friends. Luckily, we can pick up our phones and talk to the ones we miss. If you get really bored, you could even create new pen pals and talk through letters.
No one has a perfect family and this can be a great time to get to know your family members better. As college students I am sure that most of us do not see our families as much as we used to in high school. Now, we get to bond with our parents, siblings and loved ones at a new level as we have all matured and overcome big changes in our life. We have been given the gift of time with everything that is going on and one of the most important things we can do with that time is to bond with our loved ones. It may feel like a very lonely and depressing time, however, that is how every single one of us is feeling and sometimes it just takes one person to admit it first. We are truly all in this together.