Actually Recovering from College STRESS Culture

College STRESS Culture. Let's get into it!

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Transcript

Britt Threatt, host (BT) 

[00:00] Intro music

[00:04] BT: Hello writers! I’m Britt Threatt and you’re listening to “College Writing, Actually” where we talk about the how-to and how-come of writing and writing instruction. Here for you every other Wednesday when school is in session.

Last season, the first and last episodes had more of an stress management/mental health bend and y’all really seemed to like them, so we’ll start off this season with another one to get you off on the right foot this semester. But before we get into that, please like this episode, add it to your collections, whatever the way to support on the particular platform that you're listening on. And follow me on Instagram and Twitter (or whatever it’s calling itself these days) at College Writing, Actually.

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[01:00] free quality writing advice to people-- to students, to graduate student tutors and instructors-- people who may not have centers for teaching and learning and other support. We don't wanna take for granted that we have access to these sort of resources on local campuses where they do exist. There are also campuses where they don't, and so College Writing, Actually was really created to kind of be that free resource and so if you'd like to support this podcast's work of offering that to people, please click the link in the description to become a monthly subscriber!

Okay! So listeners-- and that's students, teachers, tutors, er'body-- today we’re talking about something near to my heart today: something we can call college stress culture. Last season’s final episode was “Actually practicing self-care when writing on deadline.” In it I encourage y’all not to get comfortable being unwell during finals

[02:00] and midterms. And there’s so much more that I wanted to say but I wanted to keep the episode short and focused on relaxation so I didn’t get on my soapbox.

But today is a new day, amen. We’re here.

What is college stress culture? Listener, you ask the hard questions.

I define college stress culture as the normalization of high and enduring stress, typically marketed as unavoidable and at times even aspirational.

College stress culture creates an exclusively negative relationship with stress that is quite near a dependency in my opinion. Here’s the thing about stress. Stress is a naturally occurring entity. Let’s envision it as a stream of water. It’s always there, flowing along. We care about things, we give it special attention. That is stress. According to the World Health Organization (WHO?! Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun. Get it? W-H-O. World Health-- you get it.)

[03:01] Anyway, according to them, stress is your body’s response to anything that requires attention or action. There’s always something that requires attention or action so stress is always there. It’s just not always an issue. Sometimes it’s just a catalyst to focus or do.

Receive that paradigm shift. Sit with it. Stress is your body’s response to anything that requires attention or action. Doesn’t mean “ah! It’s all around me.” It means “ah…it’s all around me.”

So your river is flowing steady. The more you have to pay attention to, the more you have to do, the more stress is produced and those waters may begin to rise but that’s why we have levees and dams. Coping mechanisms. Mindfulness. Exercise. These things can stop the river from causing a flood (of panic) and even lower those water levels.

[03:58] So since the river is there, it just waxes and wanes over the course of our days, it behooves us to have those levees and dams in place.

[04:07] Music interlude

Okay, what is the issue?

[Whisper] College stress culture

College stress culture does not encourage coping; it encourages expressions of extreme anxiety, panic, and distress.

So I say: Do not do deeds diligently-- I love a good alliteration. Can you tell? Do not do deeds diligently in ways that detract from your health. Hm? Do not get in the habit of doing deeds diligently, of being a responsible student, in ways that detract from your health. And I would even say don't do this whether you're an undergrad or grad. Whether you're junior faculty or senior faculty. All of us have responsibilities that we want to do well, but stress culture in academia writ large is really pervasive and really dangerous.

[05:03] Meeting external needs while ignoring inward needs is normalized and we want to resist the practice of being unwell during finals, during midterms. during rush in a writing centers, during tenure reviews. There's always going to be some benchmark that requires your attention and that produces a lot of stress. We want to be careful about the narrative that goes around those periods of intense stress. Especially when those periods are protracted. Here’s why college stress culture makes that level of mindfulness difficult: the opposite is what’s encouraged. Some professors seem to expect and be numb to it for themselves and their students. Some of your peers may explicitly or implicitly encourage it. Plus, plus, also, and you’re not the only one who’s unwell, who has an abundance of stress, and that makes it harder to reverse course, because you're in company doing this thing.

[06:02] That's part of the normalization, is how many people are partaking in it. If we’re honest, stress is in vogue on some of our campuses. It’s how you know you’re productive; it's an accessory that everyone has to rock to be “in” the college experience, to be "in" academia, to be a high-level participant in this world.

That backfires when stress interrupts your college experience, interrupts your work experience because it causes mental breakdowns or manifests physically as chronic migraines or ulcers. Listeners, lets not play with stress. College is a place-- for my student listeners-- college is a place to experiment, but stress is a dangerous substance to experiment with. You’ve overdosed before you know it and I’m saying that from personal experience. I’m also saying from personal experience, after you’ve begun experiencing the effects of chronic stress, it can be really hard to reverse those bad habits and even more so to reverse your body’s reactions.

[07:05] The headaches may continue. The ulcers need treatment-- and I know young people who have ulcers. People I went to college with that have and had ulcers in college, and stress exacerbated it and even caused it in some cases. The insomnia is persistent. The disordered eating requires strong intervention. It gets serious.

Okay, Britt. I’m freaked out now. Thank you. Is it just doomsday predictions or do you have any solutions for us? Actually, I do.

[07:38] Music interlude

Here are three ways you can start to interrupt college stress culture.

Practice talking about your responsibilities calmly and optimistically

Institute order

Just say “no”

I know. It all sounds so gimmicky. It's gross, but I’m telling you. These are three ways that will really begin to shift your orientation to work and responsibility, from the student to the instructor-scholar. It can shift it for everybody.

[08:19] So, number one.

“Practice talking about your responsibilities calmly and optimistically.” This one sounds the cheesiest of all, but it’s about unlearning and reprogramming. If you’re currently surrounded by people catastrophizing their college experience. You need to literally speak against that. There’s this saying I learned at church, though it’s not from church and it goes like this: “Watch your thoughts for they become your words. Watch your words for they become your actions. Watch your actions for they become your habits. Watch your habits for it becomes your character. Watch your character for it will determine your destiny.

[09:06] So we have to be really careful about the way that we speak things because they begin to form the basis of our world view, of our paradigm, of how we really believe. Even if we're only saying it and groaning about it because our friends or because our peers and colleagues are, the more you say something-- even if you did not at first believe-- eventually it will begin to form the framework of how you see these things. Right? Because your words do impact your mind and then it becomes your actions and your habits. We just have to be very careful with what we're saying. Listeners, watch what you say about work and responsibility. I'm not advocating for denial. Be honest, that it's a lot, but talk about what excites you about the work or even how you're ready for it to be done and what that done-ness will mean for your progress.

[09:59]  So you don't want to take this course, so you don't want to write this paper or this chapter. Okay, fine, but so then why are you doing it? You're going to get something out of it, right? Even if it's a perfunctory check that you just need as a prerequisite for what you actually want. Well, that's something. Focus on that. Talk about the practical things you'll be doing to finish. And don't talk about it for hours. The tongue is a difficult thing to tame, but we have to control what and how much we let come out of our mouth. Our tongue can make mountains out of molehills and waste an entire afternoon building dread. So be honest, be optimistic, and listeners, watch your mouth.

[10:42] Music interlude

Number two: “Institute Order.” We talk a lot on College Writing, Actually about pragmatism. How things “actually” get done. That’s what this step encourages. While you’re mastering the art of minding your mouth, think about how you’ll manage your load. I spent an entire episode discussing how you might do that in the very first episode of College Writing, Actually, so if you need tips and tricks, go check out  "How to actually keep your sanity and motivation in a new semester" from season 1.

[11:16] What I’ll say here is, don’t make it complicated and again, be honest. Don’t make the plan that will somehow get it done. I heard that so much. I've had people say that to me so much. It's not helpful. "Oh, you'll get it done. You always do." That's not helpful. Do not make a plan that will somehow get what you need done, done. Make a plan for how you, with all of your quirks and needs, can get it done and be well. The "I'll get it done somehow I always do" is a bad habit to allow people to place on you, and it's a bad habit to carry through college, to carry into whatever job you're going into. Instead, use your time in college to unlearn that habit

[12:02] and learn how to be kind to yourself while being responsible to others. Teachers, how can you make space for students to have those discussions? How can you frame the way you talk about assignments that encourages them to get things done well? Right, not well as in the quality of the product, although of course that's a goal, but how to get things done in a way where they are well. That does not normalize college stress culture. That encourages a student-first perspective-- and how can you do that for yourself? Right? How can you model that in your own work in a way that shows students this is what it looks like. In a way that allows you to talk to students honestly about here are some challenges that exist when you get to this level of work and here's how you have to continue to be responsible for yourself. That is as important if not more important than any material you're going to teach them is how to do that level of work and be well while they're doing it.

[12:59]  We should all use the time that we have, wherever we happen to find ourselves, to unlearn that habit of, "I'll get it done somehow," and learn how to be kind to yourself while being responsible to others.

[13:13] Music interlude

And number three, "Just Say NO." The mother of all challenges for college students everywhere. I know. Campus is fun and exciting and hopping. And you want to be in every club and go to every event. You cannot. You're one person with one body that has needs and limitations. You need sleep. You need food. Even if you're an extrovert, you do need time to decompress as an individual. And of course, you need time to do your work. Learning how to say no to opportunities and invitations before you end up leaving someone

[14:01] hanging is one of the most consistent lessons I see college students having to learn. Learn it. Preferably before you're over-committed and overwhelmed. And again, that first episode in season one about how to maintain your motivation and sanity through a new semester, that's where I get even more into some tools and tips and tricks that can help you set up your time management. And then come back to this and look at, again, just say no. But if you need more in the way of organization, episode one, season one is there for you. So learn it. Learn how to say no, preferably before you're over-committed and overwhelmed, and in the interest of not overwhelming you here, I will mind my mouth and close us out.

[14:49] Listeners one and all, if you have thoughts on this episode, take to Twitter, please mention the podcast with the handle @realcollegecomp. You can also DM me your questions or deep musings about instructive pedagogy and self-care and all these different practices that blow y'all's mind. I want to know. You might just hear topics or... You can also DM me your questions or deep musings about instructive pedagogy and practices. You might just hear your topics on your favorite streaming platform, who knows? I will say that I'm more active on Instagram than Twitter or X, whatever the heck. So if you DM, use IG. And again, consider becoming a monthly subscriber to support the work of this podcast. All right, I'm outta here. Wishing you all much growth.