Ways to cope with back to school stress

STARKVILLE,Miss.(WCBI)- If you live near a college campus, you know by now students are back.

There’s more traffic, the stores and restaurants are crowded.

An instant population boost affects neighbors in college towns. The transition back to school may take a different toll on students.

Most of us know how hard it is to get back in the swing of things.

It’s even more challenging to navigate new waters. Long-time educators say, it’s normal to feel a few growing pains.

Whether getting back to campus or arriving for the first time students are all experiencing different concerns.

“Just finding my classes at the right time,” said one student.

“The construction on 12 and there are a lot more students here this time,” said MSU student.

Others are excited to make new friends.

“Making more friends because most of mine have moved away,” said one student.

“Being able to catch on to the learning styles of teachers here because it is so different from high school.”

MSU Vice President For Student Affairs Doctor Regina Hyatt says all of these concerns normal.

“It’s a whole new schedule so having students be able to know and understand what their class schedule looks like. How much time they need to study in relation to the amount of times they have in class. Then balancing their university involvement and extracurricular activities and all of that. Those are some of the things we work on in the first few days and the first few weeks on campus,” said Dr. Regina Hyatt.

She says the best part in no student is alone.

“We have 400 plus student organizations and I put that out there as a significant support for students, where they can get to know other students who are interested in the same things they are, and also find that supportive community which is so important to student success,” said Dr. Regina Hyatt.

Leaving home could be difficult for the parent and student, but Hyatt says getting back to a regular routine could be useful in personal growth and development.

“This is an opportunity for students to develop autonomy, independent thinking, critical reasoning and critical thinking skills as well, so our encouragement for parents and family members is to be supportive of their student, but not necessarily help in the problem-solving as so much to allow the student to come out with the solutions and the concerns that they have,”said Dr. Regina Hyatt.

There is also free counseling services available on campus as well as group therapy.