Stressed Out

                 

                     It’s that time of year when it’s the holiday season, but college students you know you have final projects and papers right around the corner. There are definite ways around stress to help keep your sanity and make the most of your time.

According to the Journal of Adolescent Health only 30 percent of students get the recommended eight hours of sleep a night, these figures are from 2009, and were not taken during finals. College students can agree that figures are not needed to prove that this percentile will go down in the upcoming weeks. This is a major problem. Students “forgo sleep during periods of stress, not realizing that they are sabotaging their physical and mental health" said Roxanne Prichard, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of St. Thomas, where the study took place.

I asked a few students what they thought and one student, Alex Casey, described “My goal is 8 hours at least, and I have to always force myself to. Instead of watching that next show or playing another game I try to go to bed.”

Now students must not only sleep right but also eat right in the days leading up to the end of the semester. Fruits and Vegetables are a necessity for their vitamins and minerals that prove truly useful. The current recommended intake of fruits and vegetables are five to thirteen servings a day, or 2½ to 6½ cups. For example, a banana equals a cup, an apple equals a cup, twelve baby carrots equal a cup and a corn on the cob equals a cup.

                       

I asked college students what their intake on vegetables and fruit were, and the replies were not surprising. Adam Laird, a CSUMB sophomore, replied “I have maybe some juice in a day and vegetables if I am getting Chinese.” Another CSUMB sophomore, Lerin Donner, told me “I definitely get enough fruits in but I know I could use some more vegetables.”

                       

Now what exactly do fruits and vegetables help with; well for example the B-vitamins help with memory. Such fruits and vegetables containing these vitamins include: broccoli, potatoes, avocado, and pomegranates. Eating healthy will help make your body work to its potential; however, one must also choose the right study habits.

                       

It is easy to say that students cram, just how much though? In S.H. McIntyre’s article, Exploring cramming: Student behaviors, beliefs, and learning retention in the Principles of Marketing course, 25-50 percent of students cram. I asked a junior, Mike Shaffer, what he thought of cramming and his reply was, “I see it work for some people, but for me last minute studying never helps. I usually will forget a majority halfway through the test.”

                        In a study performed by Doug Rohrer, last minute cramming proved to be less affective than study time broken up. The study even came to the conclusion that later retention is less likely when cramming so break up studying by relaxing every twenty to forty-five minutes of studying.

                       

Now this part is easy for most of the college crowd, relax. Studying and working inside only for days is not only unhealthy but counter productive. Dr. Chris Cortellessa, a respected doctor in student health, states “fifteen minute breaks are proven useful while studying.”

                       

Now it is morning where you have a free day to study, it is proven that exercising increases the brains’ aptitude. Georg Kuhn, a professor at the Center for Brain Repair and Rehabilitation at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, describes “taken together with other studies, we can assume that better cardiovascular fitness may optimize cognitive performance and academic achievements.” His study followed Swedish twins between 1950 and the 1970’s. It tracked between the twins how environmental effects affected the twins and he described, “On an average, the fitter twin was also the twin that scored higher in the IQ tests.”

                       

There is one last tool that impartment is necessary and that is cutting distractions during work. I asked a few students what their homework atmosphere is   like. Jake Reuter, a sophomore, describes, “When I work, I have music on and the TV but just on low cause it’d be distracting.”

                       

There are case studies on learning and volume, one of which is Christie and Glickman in 1980, where they tested safe environment levels for learning. Their results concluded 70 decibels was a loud environment and 40 decibels is a quiet room. When looking at these facts even an Ipod at the OSHA (Occupational Safety &Health Adminastration) guidelines of 85 decibels would be too loud.

                       

The tools fore- mentioned will prove useful for any college student or student in general in the last weeks of the semester. And to the teachers reading, try to use some of these tools when grading, I am sure they’ll help.