Cortne Clark

July 20, 2014

Health Education 044
Case Study
Katya is a freshman in college who is constantly making an effort to
achieve good grades. Her GPA is a 3.0 and she currently has a school
scholarship. In order for her to keep her scholarship she has to pass her
chemistry exam. For Katya she is known to experience high levels of
anxiety before her tests. Her anxiety is so bad that she had a panic attack
while studying for her exam. Katya, who is like many other freshman
students experiencing stress and anxiety, needs help.

As a college student I have definitely felt anxiety and stress when it comes
to taking exams, choosing classes, passing classes, and getting help from
school counselors. Normally whenever I have an exam I tend to draw a
blank as soon as I start the test. This happens because Im so anxious to
write down the answer and remember everything that I tend to forget and
doubt myself. I most recently experienced stress in my speech class. In my
previous two speeches I forgot my conclusion and couldnt remember what
I needed to say because I was so focused on having everything perfect.
Once I got up to speak I would be so nervous that the perfect speech I had
in my mind turned out to be a not so good speech. I would later talk to my
teacher and she would tell me not remember everything word for word and
to practice more and be confident with what Im saying, which has helped a
lot. I have learned to take a breather, relax, and do the best I can in
whatever Im doing, which is what I recommend Katya to do.

In an article called First-Generation Students' Sense of Belonging, Mental
Health, and Use of Counseling Services at Public Research Universities.
The authors found that 1st-generation students tended to report lower
ratings of belonging, greater levels of depression/stress, and lower use of
services compared to non-1st-generation students. I can definitely relate
to having stress my first year and not using school services for help and I
feel as though Katya could also. At the end of the article they give
resources for students who need help. In another article about Managing
Stress there were a few tips stated that stood out to me, which were,
Exercise. All forms of exercise reduce stress hormones, flood the body
with feel-good endorphins, improve mood, boost energy and provide a
healthy distraction from your dilemmas. Relax. While its impossible to
eliminate all negative stress from your life, you can control the way you
react to stress. Reach out. If youre stressed out, talk to your friends and
family. If you feel like you cant handle the stress on your own, schedule an
appointment with a counselor on campus. I think that if Katya followed
these 3 tips, exercising, relaxing, and reaching out to others for help she
would be on the road to success and could keep her scholarship thats in
jeopardy. Many schools have counselors that are willing to help. In Steven
Bushongs article, he states that, Just as the downturn has prompted
campus career centers to expand their services, counseling centers are
extending their outreach to students. And they are giving more guidance to
faculty and staff members about how to help the growing number of
students coming to them with concerns about the economy.

As a student having anxiety can affect your well being and health. With
Katya being such a smart student she is prone to succeed if she reaches
out to her family or counselors and finds different ways that can help her
relax like exercising or reading. If Katya can use the recommendations
given she can hold onto her scholarship and pass her chemistry exam.







References:

Stebleton, M. J., Soria, K. M., & Huesman, R. L. (2014). First-Generation
Students' Sense of Belonging, Mental Health, and Use of Counseling
Services at Public Research Universities. Journal Of College Counseling,
17(1), 6-20. doi:10.1002/j.2161-1882.2014.00044.x

Bushong, S. (2009). Campus Counseling Centers React to Recession-
Related Stress Among Students. Chronicle Of Higher Education, 55(33),
A22-A23.

Managing Stress. (2014). ULifeline. Retrieved from:
http://www.ulifeline.org/articles/427-managing-stress