Maggie Hill

Im Stressed
Even though I was not very stressed when I went to the Im Stressed workshop by Arielle
Dedeaux through the University Center for Academic Excellence, I am glad now that I went. I
learned how to deal with stress and am now drawing upon that knowledge as I start to prepare for
finals. One of the things that stood out to me the most from what Arielle taught us was that there
are two types of stress. Distress is the type of stress that causes you to feel overwhelmed. This is
the type of stress I usually experience. The other type of stress is eustress. This is positive and
beneficial stress. Arielle also explained to us some signs of stress, such as getting sick more
often, unexplained aches and pains, lack of focus, or change in eating habits. When she told us
this, I thought back to times when I was extremely stressed. I was surprised to see that I had
experienced most of these. At the time, I did not connect these signs to the fact that I was
stressed. If I experience these in the future, I will know to pause and consider if they are from
stress. Towards the end of the workshop, Arielle taught us some ways to eliminate stress. A few
ways to do this is to identify stressors, have me time, and to schedule your time and projects.
After this workshop, anytime I started to feel stressed by everything I had to do, I would try to
use these techniques. For example, I would start by identifying everything that I had to do that
was making me stressed. I would then make a list of these things in order of importance. After I
completed one of the tasks, I would take a break for me time. By being organized and rewarding
myself, I was able to complete everything while keeping my stress level lower than it previously
would have been.