College is like riding a bike. If you’re reading this as a freshman, you’d probably assume that the statement is about the journey of college: difficult in the beginning but adjustable and fun by the end. If the previous sentence is right then congratulations: you are horribly wrong. The statement above actually lacks a few words. College is like riding a bike, except there are no handlebars, the bike is on fire, you’re on fire and everything else is on fire because now you’re in hell. Welcome to college by the way. Now let's get down to business.
I’m sure everyone heard these words before they entered college, whether from family, teachers or even the alumni of their former high schools: “You’ll be fine. College is going to…show more content… Everyone’s having a great time: meeting new friends, free food, goodies, and games, just all around fun for everyone. Then the university decides to give “THE TALK”. I’m not talking about any kind of talk. I’m talking about the one where a professor tells us freshmen the one thing our elders forgot to mention; that university life will make us suffer, we will fail so many times that there is no distinguishing failure from success and it will break us in every way it knows how. We disregard it as nothing more than a teacher trying to scare the freshmen for fun. Surely, he’s lying, right? We’ve heard nothing like that so far, so it must be wrong. That is, until we experience college life for ourselves and the ominous words become gospel; a way, a truth and the life for the next four (or if you’re unlucky, five) years. The secret’s out. College is stressful, stock up on coffee and red bull and kiss your summer vacations goodbye.
Did you know a study conducted by the Rose Hulman University in the USA on the causes of stress among university students in 1991 had the same results as a similar study I made just a month ago on thirty freshmen from UP, UST, Ateneo and La Salle? Both of our studies found that the causes of stress among freshmen were exactly the same, regardless of course, university or even country. The main causes were the following: grade requirements, increased amount of workload, the feeling of inadequacy,…show more content… “What? This whole essay showed me that stress is the worst, why is it the cause of greatness too?” you say. Stress is still terrifying but there are always two sides to things. Now here’s its bright side; anything worth doing isn’t easy, if it were easy then it wouldn’t be great. Great people suffer for their crafts; they don’t stop even when the stress is too much because in the end they got to do something worthwhile. So, whenever you feel stressed, it’s because you’re doing something amazing, so don’t give up just because “you’re