While being a student necessitates at least some level stress, not all stress is bad, but all stress is manageable, said Kasey Evans, the community organizing and leadership coordinator for the Health Education Resource Center.

“The interesting thing about stress is that there is both good stress and bad stress,” she said. “So it is important to note that stress can affect schoolwork and classes in both a negative and a positive way.”

She said stress keeps people motivated and it is what encourages them to finish a paper by a deadline. Without that sense of urgency, students can fall behind in their schoolwork.

“On the reverse side, stress can negatively affect schoolwork and classes if we don’t allow ourselves to properly cope with it,” she said. “If stress reaches the point of overwhelming us, it can affect our ability to keep up and complete assignments in a timely manner.”

Stress can cause students to fall behind in their work, which is why coping with positive stress is important; doing so will prevent it from reaching the negative level of stress, she said.

Negative physical changes to the body can be the result of negative stress, including serious illnesses.

Evans said some of those illnesses are impaired mental performance, suppressed thyroid function, hypoglycemia or diabetes, decreased bone density and muscle tissue, hypertension and suppressed immunity and inflammatory responses.

Planning ahead is the best thing students can do to avoid stress, Evans said.

She said once students receive their class syllabuses and schedules for their organizations and clubs, they should write all those important dates down in a planner to prevent procrastination, which can cause stress.

“When you can visually see your schedule, it makes it easier to plan ahead,” she said. “If you know that you will have three tests in one week, that’s an excellent opportunity to begin studying in smaller increments early on to avoid stress the week of those tests.”

Evans said taking time to relax is a way combat stress.

“Don’t allow yourself to be burned out,” she said. “You can do this by giving yourself small rewards in the form of things you enjoy. If you have a complicated paper or other assignment, take a short 30 minute break to listen to some of your favorite music or watch your favorite TV show and then go on and do more work.”

Taking medication should not be the solution to controlling stress unless a doctor has prescribed it, Evans said.

“Self-medication is certainly a concern when it comes to stress and, seeing that, it is one to be avoided,” she said. “There are a lot of great options for relieving stress in a healthy way.”

She said she suggests meditation, exercise, getting a massage, maintaining a healthy diet, watching a movie, reading a book or listening to music.

“Really anything that you enjoy that doesn’t involve use of substances or bingeing can be a great way to relieve stress,” she said.

Evans said her best advice for preventing stress is to not procrastinate.

She said doing everything early will free up students time as well, which allows them to do stuff they enjoy.

“I think the best thing students can do right now, today, is to be proactive in creating their schedule for their semester and creating to do lists for items they need to accomplish,” she said. “Organization, time management and planning ahead can work miracles for avoiding negative stress.”

Stephanie White can be reached at 581-2712 and at sewhite2@eiu.edu.