As the midterm mark approaches, some UMass Amherst students find themselves stressed to the point of frustration with the pressure to perform for their professional future.
Being a college student is stressful, especially to interviewed students at the University of Massachusetts as they balance schoolwork, social lives, and various jobs and internships. Their stress levels, on a scale of one to 10, vary from 7.5 to 11. The way these students deal with this stress is based on their own personality, friends, and what activities they like to do.
Patricia Murphy, 20, a junior natural resource conservation and journalism double major, with a certificate in civic engagement learning knows first hand on filling her workload. On top of taking 19 credits this semester, Murphy is the news 
operator for 91.1 WMUA, the student radio station on the campus of UMass. In
addition to that 11 hour-a-week time commitment, Murphy helps run a Registered Student Organization, has an internship in Northampton, works in a lab, and also works 11 hours a week at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Murphy said that she is “most stressed about the commitments” she has made.
Andrew DesRochers, 21, has the same issue as the General Manager of WMUA, “My stress level is through the roof. Balancing the stress of run
ning the radio station while in turmoil, as well as keeping tabs on my classes have made me more stressed than I have ever been,” he said.
Stress for these students causes frustration. This frustration leads to a loss of temper. Sophomores Josh McCawley, a 19-year-old sport management major, and Matt Stromski, 19, say that sometimes they find themselves wanting to “punch a wall” or slam their “fist down on the desk.” DesRochers, a member of the UMass men’s rowing club team, has a different way to release frustration. “I put all of my stress into my oar,” said DesRochers.
Knowing these are not conductive ways to handle stress, they offered advice to better handle this sometimes overwhelming emotion. McCawley says, “Definitely util
ize some places on campus like the three free counseling sessions at the health center.” Stromski, who is juggling a 17-credit course load, advises students to “not take as many classes.” DesRochers requested the opportunity for more office hours with teachers to be able to help relieve student stress and advise their students on how to move on throughout the semester.
When asked about his knowledge of college student stress, journalism professor Ralph Whitehead says, “I’m probably not informed about student stress.” However, he noted that when he was in college, “We were expecting it to be stressful.” Whitehead’s workload from his time in college correlates with these other students. “I worked 15-20 hours a week and studied 45 hours a week.”
One of the major differences Whitehead noted was the lack of job security in between these two generations, referencing that anyone without a degree could get a career at a paper mill for a $50,000 salary, whereas now jobs are more difficult to find.
With the lack of job security for today’s college graduates, and the increase in tuition many students must take on internships, and jobs to help solve both of these problems. “I need to do all of these things, so sometimes I let my academics slide that are not required,” Murphy said.
On top of all of the responsibilities, these students are facing the pressure to enjoy their college experiences. McCawley felt that he wasn’t living the typical “college experience.” He expressed distress in his inability to go out with friends on Friday nights because of his workload. The irony of putting pressure on students to enjoy themselves makes the college experience put stress on every aspect of the student’s life.
UMass Journalism 300 