BY DANIELLE ERTLE

SC Staff Writer

 

Graduation looms nearer, with stress levels rising among students, especially for those who are graduating in December.

Sarah Vecchio, a Psychology and English major at ESU, is graduating in December and she says she’s been stressed out from finishing her final courses, on top of looking at graduate schools. As for a job after she graduates, she’s not so sure what to expect.

“I’m really nervous, as most of my friends either don’t have jobs with their degrees or have low paying jobs that are insulting,” she says.

Another ESU student, Jessica Moyer, a Secondary English Education major, also has had some stress levels of her own this semester. “I have about 14 hours of class daily, I barely eat and sleep. I have already gotten the flu and other ailments within the first 2 months because of my body shutting down,” she says. With this already happening for her in the beginning of the school year, what is to come for her towards the end of next semester when she graduates in May? As for myself, I have a twin sister and with her already have graduated from Kutztown last semester, it puts a lot of pressure and stress on me to finish and receive my own college degree.

With the expectations of getting a college degree and a good paying job after graduation, what about graduate school? To send out transcripts to the different graduate schools is very expensive. The prices for graduate applications range from $75 to $140, making Sarah and other students save large amounts of money before they are even accepted. From the tiresome hours of schoolwork, graduation expectations, and thoughts of graduate school, how does anyone, including myself find ways to minimize the stress we are all under even for five minutes? “I try to do at least one fun thing a week,” says Sarah, who also spends a few hours with her boyfriend to relieve the stress.

As for former ESU student, Brad McGroarty, he mentions that during his time at ESU, he would see students that would stress themselves out so much that they would barely make time for others, let alone themselves.

To relieve the stress he was under, the hung out with friends that he knew he wasn’t going to see again after graduation, which is his advice to current students.

Jessica Moyer mentions that while college is stressful, the few things that help her stress levels is her boyfriend, amazing friends, and double stuffed Oreos. When I get stressed out,  sitting in a chair for a few minutes or relaxing on a Friday night watching movies helps me calm down and not become overwhelmed, which is hard to not do.

So much is expected of us ESU students, and when it’s all over, we reflect on what we accomplished and what actually mattered and how after all the stressful, tiresome nights, we wonder how we  got through it all.

 

Email Danielle at:

dertle@live.esu.edu