College Anxiety Project

(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[ (text-colour:red)[(align:"<==")[(align:"=><=")+(box:"=XXX=")[= ''''[(align:"=><=")+(box:"=XXX=")[''Breaking the Cycle: A Student's Challenges'']]] (align:"<==")[(align:"<==")[(align:"=><=")+(box:"=XXX=")[''Created By: Brendan Wilhelmsen and Casey Malcolm'']]]] (text-style:"smear")[''(text-colour:blue)[[BEGIN]]'']]

(text-colour:red)[You wake up up in the morning in your dorm at 7:30. You're very tired as you’ve had trouble sleeping recently feeling overwhelmed with work and studying for your physics test.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Get up and start your day]] [[Go back to sleep]]]

(text-colour:red)[You get out of bed, grab a toothbrush, and head to the bathroom. You brush your teeth and wash your face before heading back to your room. Once there you change and head out. You realize you’re running late, but you’re also hungry.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Get something to eat]] [[Skip breakfast]]]

(text-colour:red)[You decide it's best to get something to eat and head to the dining hall. You grab some eggs and bacon, scarfing it down before quickly leaving. Despite the rush you’re still running late to math and you walk in halfway through the lecture, hopefully you didn’t miss anything too important.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Physics Test]]]

(text-colour:red)[You walk into math class on time and listen to the teacher describe a few complex calculus problems, though you find it hard to focus due to your lack of sleep. ] (text-colour:white)[ [[Physics Test]]]

(text-colour:red)[Just as you’re leaving math you remember the physics test you have next. You begin to stress worrying if you’ve studied enough or if you’re even smart enough to pass the test. Nervously, you walk into physics class and sit down. The professor passes out the test and your stress only increases, not to mention the lack of sleep is getting to you and you find it hard to focus throughout the test.] (text-colour:white)[ [[After test]]]

(text-colour:red)[As you walk to you're next class John's advice circles through your head. "A therapist," you think, "I don't think I need that". Just then, you phone starts to buzz from your pocket. You look down and see your mom is calling you.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Answer]]]

(text-colour:red)[You walk out of the lecture hall feeling defeated. You know you blew it. Your lack of sleep and overall stress made it hard to focus and you missed out on multiple easy questions. You walk back to your dorm and fall asleep. ] (text-colour:white)[ [[Fall asleep]]]

(text-colour:red)[You sleep through the whole day, life has just been so overwhelming recently. Sleeping is the only way you feel better. Waking up is a drag. ] (text-colour:white)[ [[Next Day]]]

(text-colour:red)[You wake up and realize you overslept your alarm by an hour. Luckily you didn't miss your test. You rush out of your dorm and head to math class., which has already started, you'll be late. Arriving with about 20 minutes left, you try to gather what you can but struggle because your mind is worried about physics.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Physics Test]] ]

(text-colour:red)[Once again, you rise at 7:30 in the morning. It's a gloomy and cloudy day out, and dispite getting a lot of sleep you still feel tired. You're not exactly sure why. Getting out of bed seems like a treacherous chore. You want to get up and head to class but at the same time you feel weighed down by stress.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Sleep, you need the rest]] [[Get up and go to class]]]

(text-colour:red)[You wake up at around 12:00. Your morning classes have passed and you worry that you have missed something important. As you are climbing out of bed you hear your phone ring across the room. You walk over and pick it up, it's your mom.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Pick up the phone]]]

(text-colour:red)[Despite feeling terrible, you might as well get up. You roll out of bed and head to the bathroom to take a shower, brush your teeth, throw on some clothes and head to your first class.] (text-colour:white)[ [[First Class]]]

(text-colour:red)[Your mind wanders during math class. All that is on your mind are your upcoming tests next week and indecision about how to spend the weekend. Despite your intention to listen to the professor, you find that his words go in one ear and out the other. As you leave the class you contemplate what to do about this growing anxiety. Do you?] (text-colour:white)[ [[Put it off till another time]] [[Talk to your friend about your stress]] ]

(text-colour:red)[You decide to ignore this anxiety, "it will go away if I forget about it," you think as you head to your next class. After you finish your classes for the morning you hear your phone ringing from you pocket. You look down and notice it's your mom calling. You pick up the phone.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Pick up the phone]]]

(text-colour:red)[You decide it's best to deal with this anxiety and you've heard its good to share your feelings with someone else to help relieve stress. "John," you shout to your friend as he walks past, "Whats up" "I wanted to talk to you about something", you say stopping off to the side.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Talk to John]] [[On second thought, its not important]] ]

(text-colour:red)["Hi honey," your mom answers, "I've got some really bad news, you're grandpa just got diagnosed with cancer, and it's bad." You don't no how to react. You feel all that anxiety from earlier well up and overflow as this terrible news is added to it. You tell your mom its alright you hang up the phone. You don't know what to do as you feel overwhelmed by your stress, multiplied by the terrible news.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Ignore these feelings and put them off]] [[Call your mom back and talk to her about your stress]] [[Look up ways to deal with stress]]]

(text-colour:red)[You decide its not worth worrying about again choose to put these feelings off. You go to eat lunch, but you when you get there you've lost your appetite and head back to your dorm instead. You try to start on your homework, but you can't focus as the stress and anxiety builds in your mind. Giving up on your homework you colapse in your bed overwhelmed. What do you do?] (text-colour:white)[ [[Go to the gym to relieve some stress]] [[Go to sleep]]]

(text-colour:red)[You dial your mother’s phone number. It barely rings once before she picks it up. “Hey, how are you doing?”. You pause for a second. Then you speak, “I’m just so worried about grandpa mom. I don’t want to lose him”. The line goes silent for a second, then your mother responds, “I know honey, I’m worried about him too. But, there isn’t anything we can do. I know it’s hard but worrying is a waste of energy“. She pauses to let that seep into your brain. That isn’t what you wanted to hear. It feels like your mother is giving you advice that won’t help. You decide to head back to your dorm, as the feelings swirl around your head. Though talking to your mom helped a little you still feel this massive weight of anxiety on your chest.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Next Day]]]

(text-colour:red)[Feeling overwhelmed with your anxiety you decide to look up ways to deal with it. You type into google, "best ways to deal with stress and a list of suggestions pops up" 1. Take care of yourself: Eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and give yourself a break if you feel stressed out. 2. Make time to unwind: Try to do some other activities you enjoy. 3. Talk to others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling. Share your problems and how you are feeling and coping with a parent, friend, counselor, or doctor.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Deal with these feelings later]] [[Go to the gym to relieve some stress]] [[Call your mom back and talk to her about your stress]] ]

(text-colour:red)[You decide to go to the gym to blow off some steam and hopefully take you mind off your grandpa's condition and your stress from school. At first you find it hard to focus, but as you get into your workout you start to feel more relaxed and you feel less anxious. After you leave you grab some food and walk home. When you get back to your dorm you lie down to go to sleep, but your stress slowly starts to return and your bottled up feelings come back to you all at once, making it hard to sleep. Then you begin stressing about your lack of sleep as glance at your phone and the time says 1:00. You finally drift off to sleep around 2:00.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Next Day]]]

(text-colour:red)[You decide a nap is what you needed, but you toss and turn and can't seem to fall asleep tossing and turning as you can't get the thought of you grandfathers illness, or you stress from school out of your mind. Eventually, around 11:00 you drift off to sleep.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Next Day]] ]

(text-colour:red)["I've been really stressed recently." "About what?", he asks "I don't know, school, tests, just everything. I can't sleep, and even when I do, I wake up the next day still feeling tired. I can't focus durring lectures and its been negatively effecting my grades." "Damn, that sounds bad... have you ever thought of speeking to anyone about it, like a professional." "I think the school has heath services for stuff like that" "I'll think about it", you respond.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Next]]]

(text-colour:red)[You dial your mother’s phone number. It barely rings once before she picks it up. “Hey, how are you doing?”. You pause for a second. Then you speak, “Mom, I’m worried about grandpa. I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s terrible, and on top of that, I’m worried about schoolwork, my friends. It’s like I can’t catch a break mom, I don’t know what to do anymore. There is no solution, I’m at rock bottom and can’t escape”. The line goes silent for a few moments and then your mother responds, “I know it’s hard. I know it feels impossible right now”. Somehow, hearing these affirmations from her mouth makes you feel a little better. You know her words don’t change anything but they touch a nerve in a way that you didn’t know you needed. “Thanks for being so honest with me. I know that must’ve been hard” she says. She’s right, it was hard, but you’re glad that you did it. “I think I know a way I can help you”.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Conclusion]]]

(text-colour:red)[Feeling overwhelmed with your anxiety you think back to what John told you and decide to look up some ways to deal with this anxiety. You type into google, "best ways to deal with stress and a list of suggestions pops up" 1. Take care of yourself: Eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and give yourself a break if you feel stressed out. 2. Make time to unwind: Try to do some other activities you enjoy. 3. Talk to others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling. Share your problems and how you are feeling and coping with a parent, friend, counselor, or doctor.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Take advice]] [[Ignore these feelings and put them off]]]

(text-colour:red)[Just as your about to speak you think, "He doesn't wanna hear about my feelings... I'm sure he has better things to do." "You know what," you say, "forget about it" "Ok?", John responds looking confused, "Just let me know if anything comes up" "Yeah sure", you say walking off. As you leave you hear your phone ringing from your pocket, it's your mom calling.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Pick up the phone]]]

(text-colour:red)[You decide to take the advice suggested by the website. One of the three options suggested that you talk to someone about your feelings. You decide to call your mom back to talk about your anxiety] (text-colour:white)[ [[Call your mom back and talk to her about it]]]

(text-colour:red)[Though the website gave good advice, you don't really feel like implementing it now as you feel exhausted and tired from the level of stress and pressure your under. You decide to head back to your dorm and get some rest.] (text-colour:white)[ [[Next Day]]]

(text-colour:blue)[Five weeks later… Life hasn’t been easy, but it has been much better since that phone call. Sadly, Grandpa is still sick, but he’s battling hard. You have a close relationship with him so you think about him frequently. Schoolwork is still overwhelming, but it’s been easier to balance. You’ve been applying some strategies that you got from the school’s counseling services. Also, you have been seeing a therapist regularly, once a week. At first, you were hesitant, but then you realized how beneficial it is to your life. You talk about anything on your mind, it really helps. You don’t want to begin to think about what would’ve happened if you hadn’t opened up to mom. You really are on the up.] [[CREDITS]]

Created By: Brendan Wilhelmsen and Casey Malcolm Thanks to Dr. Kelly at CWRU and her course on digital literature