All That Pressure: How To Deal

College life involves plenty of pressure. You’re well aware of that. Amid tests, deadlines, keeping up grades, making new friends, and making sure you’re on the right career path, how do you deal with it? You’re well aware you can and should take time to unwind, and we don’t need to tell you how to do that. But if you take a few different views on college life, you’ll see it’s not so bad after all.

One of the best things about college is all the choices you’ll have. Actually, that can be one of the worst things, too, but only if you adopt a negative viewpoint. You’ll get to decide what school you attend, what you’ll study, and even what you’ll do and have for dinner each night. In this regard, even when you do encounter pressure such as difficult classes or even the pressure surrounding joining a new club and hopefully fitting in, just remember that you get to choose. You won’t be forced into anything, and you can always make the choice to relieve pressure. For example, if it’s a big test coming up and you didn’t do so great the first time around, take the time to study and get help if needed. It’s true you’ll feel pressured during that next test, but you can make the choice to be better prepared.

Another great feature about college life is that you’ll almost always have more time to do what you want to do. Pressure often arises when you might wonder if you did what you want to do, both socially and even as far as classwork. While it’s true that you’ll be given plenty of time to decide your major, for example, you can always take classes on different subjects that interest you. And no club or social group will turn you down even if you’re a senior! Take advantage of everything that college has to offer, as even feeling regretful can cause pressure.

You might have also heard it said that college life is still not the real world. While, that’s true in one sense, it also means that in fact, those real-world pressures won’t be bearing down on you. It isn’t selfish to say that your college years are all about you. At your worst or your best, you have only to live up to your own expectations. There’s only as much pressure there as you place on yourself (and, well, some from your parents too). So don’t overpressure yourself. Save that for the “real world,” right?