How to Change the World (College Edition)

Sometimes it can seem like the days are getting shorter and there just isn’t enough time to fit a concise schedule into 24 hours as a college student. Be that as it may, we try our best to juggle the many endeavors that will take us to the end goal- our dreams and ambitions. At the end of every long day, there may be a gradually increasing fear that everything we do in the moment won’t be enough for who we want to be and what we strive to encapsulate. Much of these fruitless thoughts and anxiety can stem from high stress levels due to a lack of adequate sleep or a lack of effective sleep. Unhealthy habits may also impact the stress that we face on a daily basis. There may be a mountain of seemingly feasible quick fixes with a bit of online research, but the one foundational change that must occur is a change in mindset and a force of willpower.

Sleep deprivation can exacerbate stress levels, negative reactions to stress, anxiety, depression, and many more cognitive derailments that can hinder a healthy mindset. Whether you’re a night owl or a morning rooster, anyone can feel the effects of sleep deprivation from the moment a lack of sleep is induced, yet much of the symptoms of sleep deprivation can be scapegoated by unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as overeating or social media addiction. In fact, a lack of sleep causes our bodies to crave high-energy junk food because our brains need the caloric stimulation to continue working throughout the day. Getting adequate and consistent amounts of sleep help to build up our stamina in working hard throughout the college experience and reduce the likelihood of unhealthy choices. Remember that rest is just as important as work, but sometimes we can confuse rest with small breaks on our phones in the middle of studying.

Our focus can deteriorate due to the consistent breaks in concentration through the hammering of social media in the midst of college-related activities. We lose focus easier as we our phones are constantly checked ever so often even though we SHOULD focus on the tasks in front of us. The small dopamine snacks that are released by the brain from social media are instant gratification. Every like, comment, or follow makes our brain light up with dopamine, but our brains are becoming overstimulated by all of the neurochemical interactions within our heads. This also affects sleep because the breaks in concentration do not allow our overstimulated brains to focus on sleep, exacerbating anxiety throughout the night. Likewise, the crave for high-energy food can unintentionally cause us to over-caffeinate or eat past regular awake hours, further amplifying our sleep deprivation. In order to overcome the negative reactions to stress, we need to have the willpower to keep pushing forward when studying so we can also have more stamina when the progression of college demands work that will get inevitable harder. Instead of looking at your phone during breaks, take a walk, go outside and look at nature, meditate, or exercise. Doing so will help better your mindset as you build healthier habits that’ll help you become more mindful.

The solution to the cycle of college-related stress, negative reactions, and lifestyle choices is a force of willpower and a change in mindset. Train your mind to focus on the positives in any altercation. It is important to be kinder towards others and yourself. It takes strong willpower to not only start giving more kindness to others, but to actively give more kindness to yourself. When you’re kind to others, others will be kinder towards you. You can develop a stronger and healthier bond with those who trust in you and those who you can trust; this can build a support system that can drastically change the lifestyle choices you deem are becoming a hindrance in your life. Being kind to yourself is just as important, because giving yourself the intrinsic validation allows you to grow into who you truly want to be.

 Many of us may feel like we don’t have a place in college, that we are undeserving of our achievements, and yet we don’t realize just how hard we’ve worked to overcome every hurdle that we’ve faced up until the present. It may be hard to get out of bed at 6 A.M. every morning sometimes, but trust that the grit will give you treasures in your future. You have a place in the world and you have the capacity to become who you want to be. Life is already hard as it is when we’re still just a bunch of clueless kids thrown into a college setting, so we need all the kindness that we can receive and all that we can put into the world. Only then will we realize that we have the potential to become so much more that what we once sought to become, and the absolute power to shape the world around us!
By Kongmong Lee, Fresno City College Student, WRC Tutor