On April 24th, I took part in a Rose Talk regarding how to better manage end of the semester stress. We each took turns talking about what advice we give to others, what places we enjoy studying at, and what our current strategy for handling stress is.
An interesting topic we spoke about was why is it that we can offer great advice to stressed out friends but have difficulty taking our own advice. As a result of this realization, I’ve been consciously making an effort to take the advice I give others and apply it to myself.
Lastly, we discussed how we feel as though Cornell’s infrastructure isn’t sufficient for the number of students; we shouldn’t be worried about not being able to find a seat at a library during prelims or how it seems as though dining halls can’t handle the influx of people during peak hours without creating long lines. While these problems don’t add an immense amount of stress individually, together they do.
I agree that cornell isn’t the best environment to deal with stess in. I wish i attended this talk so I could hear how others cope with this stressful time.
I too wish you attended!
I agree with your statement, there are so many micro stresses at this university. I feel for the library seat problem, having multiple places where one could work may help immensely.
Being extremely stressed at Cornell is very easy. I also wish I attended this Table Talk to learn what others due to handle their stress. Personally, I handle stress by going to the gym. I agree with your comment about how all of the constant, micro-level concerns in our lives can add up and add stress to an already enormous amount of stress.
I agree that there small inconveniences that could add to our stress, such as not finding a seat in the library during finals week. However, I think the biggest issue is Cornell’s competitive culture that breeds this sense of anxiety and stress. I hope that the university would find ways that can help students have a better time managing their mental health, and a good place to start would be to get rid of all the small stressors that you mentioned in your post.