Effects of Stress on Grades

Students at universities worldwide oft find accent to be a part of everyday life. Stress is defined as the way sensation responds to the changes and demands of life either emotionally, physically, or mentally. Stress is registered in ones fight or flight response. When an exciting or dangerous return occurs changes take place in the carcass to prepare the person to struggle with the attemptful situation. After the markful situation has subsided the body returns to a common state. The constant stress of being a college savant does non consent to the body to return to a normal state so a school-age child whitethorn never be fitting to fully loosen up.This butt end lead to stress overload (Bower, 2010). Many factors faecal matter affect a learners academic performance and grades. The National College Health estimation of 2004 shows that the most signifi chamberpott impediment to effective listening, have goting information, and studying is stress. Stress is celebra ted to be the build one ca practice of poor academic exam in a educatee above other problems aforesaid(prenominal) depression, illness, take disorders, death of a family member, and even sexual assault. The study reviewed 47,202 college students and 32. 4% listed stress as the bod one barrier to schoolwork (Temple, 2006).Many college students build multiple stressors. Most are fetching multiple screenes, working regular jobs, have got family members to take care of, are working massive hours at unpaid internship sites, or any combination of these. Many college students must lease with the stress of just leaving home and no longer benefiting from familial support. Relationship problems may begin to develop between the student and the friends, families, or signifi abidet others that have been left at home. This overload of responsibility and devil can lead to a lack of sleep and im comely nutrition, which can cause difficulty in school (Bower, 2010).Proper nutrition m ay become a problem for a student because he or she may be unable to grocery shop on a regular basis. Other problems with nutrition occur because a student who is keep in a dormitory may be unable to draw proper meals and unable to store large quantities of food. Some students new to spirit without parents may not have the knowledge to cook a decent meal. Others simply do not have the while to eat properly. Without proper nutrition the brain does not function properly and the student may have difficulty concentrating on schoolwork (Womble, 2002). Maintaining employment while tending college can also be a source of stress.This stress may come from working long hours that can make the student to a fault tired to focus on his or her studies or working long hours may lead to frontance problems at school. Mentally focusing on both work life and school life can be exhausting for a student and can lead to increased amounts of stress. The number of hours a student spends at work can be flat related to that students grade point average (grade point average) because the much time a student spends at work, the less time that student can spend studying (Womble, 2002). Sleep, or lack of, is the most authorized factor on a students GPA.Many college students do not sleep enough during the week to properly rest the body and mind. Lack of sleep has been shown to increase anxiety and stress. Simple sleep patterns like waking earlier during the weekdays than on the weekends have also been shown to affect the GPA of a student (Womble, 2002). Not all college students complain of experiencing stress, many do. Although more or less stress is good for a person and may be energising or motivating, it is important for a person to recognize and be able to manage bad stress before it spirals out of control and has a negative effect.Coping mechanisms are important for anyone but may give to be more so for a college student. Coping mechanisms include quiescency enough, spend ing time doing fun activities, relaxing, and practicing time management. Developing ones communication, writing, and test taking skills is important to reduce stress. Engaging in physical activity, reading a book that is not school related, or getting a massage are ways to reduce stress and relax. Daily use of a planner to track assignment due go outs and upcoming project deadlines is expedient for staying on track with studies (Bower, 2010).Coping mechanisms come from within, from something called genius nerve. The idea of spirit strikingness first came to be with regard to protecting business executives from the wellness effects of stress. This concept involves having a sense of control and commitment. Commitment promoter that a person can view the world as a meaningful place and he or she seeks to be involved in the world sooner than withdrawn from it. Control shows that a person believes he or she can influence events that take place in his or her world. Personality hard iness means that a person may not feel threatened by changes to his or her environment.Theoretically, a student with personality hardiness should be able to adapt to the changes that come with enrollment in school, taking multiple classes, observeing employment, and family obligations without stress overload. The result should mean that a student takes on the new challenges with less stress and instead turns the stressful events into opportunities for appendage and personal development (Hystad, Eid, Laberg, Johnsen, & Bartone, 2009). Two studies have been performed by Lifton and colleagues. These studies assessed the personality hardiness of individuals throughout the college eld.These studies had newly arriving college students complete hardiness measures and found a validatory interrelationship between persistence and the students graduation date quatern years later. The hardiness scores among those who did not complete four years of college were lower than those who did not drop out. The scores on the hardiness exams were not directly related to scores on entrance exams or high academic strength. Personality hardiness is not based on a persons academic ability but rather a persons attitude or the manner in which he or she approaches lifes challenges (Hystad et al. , 2009).Though the information contained in the numerous studies that have been make regarding stress and the college students ability to bring home the bacon a decent GPA is helpful to understanding stress and how it affects different people there are always exceptions to every rule. Although it is straight that every person handles stressful situations in his or her own laughable way there are many resources available to help a college student achieve passing grades regardless of the stress factor. At the same time, there are many wefts a college student makes that adds to the amount of stress he or she carries in everyday life.Many times when a college student is sleep deprived it is that he or she has made the choice to be sleep deprived. Staying up all night partying is common among college students as going off to college may be the first time the student has had the opportunity to do so and many consider it to be a bonding experience or a way to make friends in a new place. Grabbing a less than stellar meal from the nearby fast food joint or having a pizza delivered is oftentimes a choice that a student makes rather than a necessity. have a meal like this is easier than shopping for a meal, cooking a meal, and cleaning up after a meal.Eating on the run may also be what all of the other kids are doing and once more it is a way to fit in. Whereas it is true that some students must maintain employment while attending school this may not have to be the stressor that it often is. Time management skills can come in handy when trying to juggle work and school. Taking time to relax is one of the most important and effective ways of reducing stress. This can howev er, oftentimes be misconstrued and taken out of context. One of the worst, and most common, pastimes college students use to relax is drinking alcoholic beverages.Binge drinking can be very detrimental to schoolwork as this can do forth with a persons judgment skills, time management skills, and a persons vigorous well-being. Research shows that binge drinking affects most 50% of college students (Stunn, n. d. ). Binge drinking can lead to missing classes because the student may be to hung-over to attend or if the student does manage to attend the mind and body may not be functioning at full capacity and may lead to an inability to concentrate and retain information.When this kind of drinking is done night after night it can lead to many absences or missed assignments, which can compound a students stress level by having to make up the work or complete the work in a shorter time with little to no instruction This information would be recommended to others in the class because as students stress will be an important factor during not only college years but also in future years as well.It is important that as an individual a person has act mechanisms to deal with stress to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Research done on the topic of how stress can negatively affect a students GPA is important in encyclopaedism how to punter deal with the stressors in ones life to overcome barriers and achieve the goals he or she has set. Enrolling in college is a big step in which nobody intentionally sets up to fail.Whereas there are many changes that a college student must adapt to there are an equal number of services both on campus and off that will help a student overcome the barriers to effective learning and to become a fall apart student despite the changes in life. Learning ways to manage time, learning to make choices that will facilitate not only a healthy relationship with peers but also a healthy lifestyle, and learning to bonk with the sometimes daily changes in life is part of growing up and moving into the adult world.