Staying stress-free and sober

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Student services director Brian Sveinson says it’s all about balance

Sophie Long
News Writer

Let’s face it: the semester is pretty much done. But for some reason, you have midterms, quizzes, papers, presentations, and you find yourself wondering what the hell you did the rest of the semester if everything is due right now. Student stress seems to be a big thing around the University of Regina, and yeah, Beerfest was awesome, but there are some things you can do instead of binge drinking the stress away.   

According to Brian Sveinson, the director of student services, November and March tend to be the worst two months for student stress. Sveinson believes this is due to students getting burnt out after working hard for three months.“We all need vacations,” he said. “You can’t just be busy all the time.”

Katherine Koskie, a third-year education student, feels the typical class structure is partially to blame.

“I think teachers try and make things due later in the semester so we can have more time and write better,” she said. “Unfortunately, they all have the same idea, and unless you are super organized, everything builds up, which leads to late nights and caffeine addiction.” This is a cycle that seems to become reality for most students.

Sveinson says the key is having a balance in life. He suggests there needs to be an equilibrium reached in student life.

“You need to get some work done, yes,” he said. “But you need to have pleasure in life too.”

Sveinson believes students let themselves get stressed about all their work that is due, then look for easy fixes for their stress.

“It can come in the form of binge drinking, binge eating, or even excessively playing video games,” Sveinson said. “The only thing that will happen is you still won’t get your homework done”.

Sarah Etter, a third-year statistics student, has considered dropping out due to stress this semester.

“It’s hard to put up with the stress this time of year,” she said. “The days get shorter and suddenly you’re tired and it just doesn’t seem worth it. And if you’re not in the right program, it doesn’t seem worth it at all.”

This is a common theme among frustrated students. It doesn’t seem beneficial to many students to pay thousands of dollars a semester to become stressed.

Fortunately, Sveinson believes there are ways of targeting stress.

“Time management is important and a lot of first- and second-year students have to learn this, and really struggle with it,” Sveinson commented. “One of the best things is to get a big calendar and put it on your wall. Then you can know what’s going on in your life.” 

Sveinson emphasizes balance as key to living a stress-free life.

“Make sure you exercise,” he said. “It’s been proven to help you physically respond to stress. Routine has been proven to help when dealing with stress, and making sure you’re getting enough sleep is very important. You do not want to be in sleep debt.”

However, once you are stressed out, there is little you can do.

“You’re going to have to get it done, and putting it off is not the best thing,” Sveinson warned. “You’ll only have a bigger mountain to climb closer to the time.”

As tempting as that beer looks, just wait until Dec. 5. It’ll taste so much better knowing you don’t have to go to class the next day.

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