Profiles in stress: How students cope
Students at the University ofNebraska
Lincoln don’t have to look hard to find stress
among their classmates. The Daily Nebraskan
randomly interviewed seven students to find out
what stressed them out most and how they cope
with the tension.
Here’s what they had to say:
Katie Wirth
Junior envi
ronmental stud
ies major
Wirth said
she feels over
whelmed when
stress is piled on
piece-by-piece,
test-by-test,
assignment-by
assignment - all on the same day.
The worst was a day with three
tests and a quiz, she said.
Drawing and painting abstract
art - “playing with textures, col
ors and shapes” - is Wirth’s secret
to finding peace, she said. She
also takes plenty of study breaks,
goes for walks or talks with her
friends and boyfriend.
Michael
Svoboda
-Senior
English major
Svoboda said
procrastination
is his worst
stress enemy. He
said he tends to
put studying and
assignments off
until they are all due near the
same time. Then, after the rush,
he’ll take a two- or three-week
break from intense school work.
“I gotta take a few weeks off,”
he said. “I don’t know if it works
well, but those two to three weeks
are really relax
ing.”
Tracy West
Sophomore
business admin
istration major
West said her
stress heightens
during the
West weeks she has
three tests in a week, while also
working until 3 or 4 am. at
Amigo’s. Last year, she had her
two hardest final exams on the
same day, which was the day after
another Amigo’s late shift, she
said.
But she finds solace in the
Sheldon Sculpture Garden, where
she said she goes to study and
meditate.
Lance
Gunderson
Sophomore
broadcasting
and political
science major
Gunderson
« . said he doesn’t
Gunderson r-r- r
suffer from
stress often anymore - not since
he finished his four years of ser
vice in the U.S. Navy. While help
ing the captain on the aircraft car
rier U.S.S. Enterprise, Gunderson
got accustomed to high level of
stress.
Since coming to UNL last
year, only French 101 can crack
the former seaman’s tenacity, he
said. “I’m not a foreign language
guy.”
Gunderson said he relaxes
with help from Chinese hand
massage balls and through medi
tation.
Tyler Hall
Sophomore
civil engineer
ing major
Hall said he
now is starting
to feel the ten
sion from his
harder, higher
level classes.
That, combined
with work in Habitat for
Humanity, the UNL marching
band and church, leaves him with
a tight schedule, he said. He feels
the worst stress wh$n his friends
can’t fit into his d^.
“It gels to the point I get a lit
tle paranoid with my friends,” he
said. But talking and hanging out
with them is the best relief'
method, he said. Sometimes, he’ll
do something he enjoys, such as
running. He also carries a list of
stress management tips in his
backpack.
Erika Crick
Sophomore biological sci
ences major
Crick said her friends can tell
when she’s stressed by her cranki
*
ness. “I’ll get
mad at them for
no apparent rea-_
son,” she said.
“And I want to
sleep, even
though I’m not
tired.”
One day this
semester, Crick
had a physics
exam, a review for a biology test,
a lab report to turn in and physics
problems due.
She said her remedy for days
like that is isolation. “I get away
from people while I’m stressed so
I don’t take it out on them.” But
during the weekends, Crick and
her friends get together and for a
few hours of fun, no matter how
busy they are.
f “We just make time to have
fun and look out for each other.”
Kate Benson
Senior polit
ical science
major
Benson’s
schedule con
sists of 20 hours
a week playing
basketball for
the NU women’s
team, activities
with Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority
and her duties with the Student
Athlete Advisory Board. By the
way, she also has an academic and
social life.
Benson said getting back into
a routine with school and basket
ball practice under new coaches
has been her most stressful expe
rience this year.
Talking to teammates and par
ents is the best relief method, she
said.
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Stress
Guide
Index
Page 3 - Stress and sickness:
Doctors warn students of the
negative health effects that
stress has on the body.
Stress online: The World Wide
Web has the most current
news and answers to stress
management questions.
Page 4 - Magic fingers: Some
students have found massage
as one of the best methods
to soothe their bodies and
chase away tension.
The power of calories: Eating
stress away has been a
popular method for some
students, and a recent study
shows it can be a good
strategy.
Page 5 -Herbal heaven:
Aromatherapy, lotions and
essential oils have been used
for thousands of years to relax
mind and body.
Pago ft- Don’t sweat it:
Somewhere beneath the
hustle and bustle of college
lies a fun time. Good luck
finding it.
Blonde, bubbly and beaten:
Aerobics instructors can be
prime targets for catharsis.
Page 7 - At the source: Stress
does not discriminate among
the ages. Freshmen, seniors
and all students in between
are not immune.
Life in Hell: Stress is easier
to handle with a smile.
Cartoonist Matt Groening
shows the 24 warning signs.
Pago 8 - Expert advice: Avoid
it, alter it or adapt to it are the
simple strategies
psychologists suggest to deal
with stress.
All in a handshake: Students
can learn to control their
stress and get class credit for
it, providing they can master
a calm, relaxed handshake.