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Module 7 Assignment Rodriguez Valeria

1) The COVID-19 pandemic greatly increased stress and anxiety levels for college students like the author. Being away from home for the first time and having mostly online classes made socializing and coping very difficult. 2) Many students turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with loneliness and stress during the pandemic. However, healthier coping mechanisms include limiting social media, spending time with others, exercising, and meditation. 3) While stress is inevitable, the author has learned the importance of social support and taking breaks to protect their mental health during difficult times. Maintaining physical health through diet and exercise can also help reduce stress levels over time.

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130 views

Module 7 Assignment Rodriguez Valeria

1) The COVID-19 pandemic greatly increased stress and anxiety levels for college students like the author. Being away from home for the first time and having mostly online classes made socializing and coping very difficult. 2) Many students turned to drugs and alcohol to deal with loneliness and stress during the pandemic. However, healthier coping mechanisms include limiting social media, spending time with others, exercising, and meditation. 3) While stress is inevitable, the author has learned the importance of social support and taking breaks to protect their mental health during difficult times. Maintaining physical health through diet and exercise can also help reduce stress levels over time.

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Module 7 Academic Reflection

Valeria Rodriguez

Stress. We all know what it is, and we are all too familiar with the term. Stress is a daily

experience. Whether stress comes from something as simple as having to drive to work or

something as grave as dealing with an abusive family member, it affects everyone in similar

ways. Stress is often time defined as “physical, mental, and emotional strain or tension” (What is

Stress? 2022), and while we associate the term ‘stress’ with negative situations, not all stress is

harmful. Positive stress can come from marriage, the birth of a child, promotion at work, etc. The

general definition of stress for most people tends to focus on the overall negative aspects,

especially in a world that thrives off stress, and as college students, we have to learn to be okay

with it and adapt to it. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that process.

In 2020, I was a senior in high school. My 18th birthday was March 14, 2020, and had a

lot of plans on how I would spend my special day. Little did I know that just a few days before

my birthday, I would be spending the rest of my senior year at home doing online classes. I

would have little to no contact with my teachers and peers whom I talked to on a daily basis.

Little did I know that my first year of college would be majorly online and making friends would

be harder than ever before. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, my stress and anxiety levels

shot up to a near all-time high. While I know that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected a lot of

people all over the world, it has affected my generation (Gen Z), the most. People ages 13-23

have been, and still are, experiencing elevated stress as well as showing signs of depression

(What is Stress? 2022).


At the start of the pandemic, and even now, people still feel that COVID-19 created a lot

of loneliness. Workplaces, schools, and stores were closed for a little while, and when they

opened, the requirement of being at least six feet apart and the need to wear masks stood strong

for a long time. When I first started college, I studied at UNC-Greensboro. I had never had to be

that far away from home for such a long period of time, that the loneliness stood strong. My

roommate had bailed on me and for the entire first semester, I was even more alone than other

students. I struggled with meeting people and even then, I struggled with getting out of my dorm

room to go out and eat for example. The majority of my classes were online and to prioritize my

mental health, I ended up moving back home for the second semester since all of my classes

were online.

For a lot of people, students especially, the solution to loneliness is drugs and/or alcohol.

In an article from the American Sociological Association, a UNC-Charlotte professor states that

at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, “clinics and providers were driven to telehealth due to

lockdowns and the need for social distancing, leading to even higher levels of distress and social

isolation and providing a conducive environment for increased use of alcohol and drugs”

(Scheid, 2022). To cope with loneliness and overall stressors for college students, there are

healthy ways to deal with stress instead of resorting to drugs and/or alcohol. A few of the better

ways to deal with stress are to; take breaks from news and social media, take care of your body

by eating healthy and exercising, connect with others, and take time for yourself to unwind by

doing safe and healthy things you enjoy, such as meditation or drawing (Coping with Stress

2023). Doing these things can be hard at first but in the long run, these will be things you enjoy

doing more often than not.


As an avid social media user, the best way to lessen the amount of stress you have and to

cope with the stress you do have is to take social media breaks. It is oftentimes not something I

want to do but push myself to do it to protect my mental health. Since COVID, I have found that

spending time with friends and loved ones is the best way to cope with stress, especially if they

are near and dear to your heart. There’s nothing that a good time can’t fix. Exercising and eating

healthy is one of the ones I struggle with the most, not only is it expensive sometimes as a

college student, but a lot of the times, these things don’t feel good at first. I’ve always heard that

cleansing, or detox, starts from the inside out, and eating healthy and exercising can reduce stress

by putting your focus into making yourself a better version. Stress is inevitable but it is not

without effort that you will be able to deal with it.


Citations

AIS. (2022, March 30). What is Stress?. The American Institute of Stress.
https://www.stress.org/daily-life

CDC. (2023, April 25). Coping with Stress. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/cope-with-stress/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https
%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fmentalhealth%2Fstress-coping%2Fcope-with-stress
%2Findex.html

Scheid, T. L. (2022, November 18). Behavioral Health and the College Environment. American
Sociological Association. https://www.asanet.org/footnotes-article/behavioral-health-and-
college-environment/

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