I started seeing a therapist and the truth is out: I'm in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.
My roommate and I created a quintessential "112 days from graduation" to-do list at the beginning of this semester, and falling at the bottom of the list, in the lightest of our expo markers, reads, "Use free Counseling and Psychological Services sessions at the Health Center."
Among other things, the list includes: go to the Lincoln zoo; play Frisbee golf; figure out life plan; tailgate with tequila before a football game; fake an engagement and try on wedding dresses; explore the Capitol and the State and Children's museums; and engage in academic foreplay in Love Library (maybe we should ignore that one).
A mix of serious and playful, our list has become a figurative countdown of our numbered days left at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. With each to-do crossed off the list, we feel time crunching down on us. The stress of multiple jobs and classes, mixed with an economy unfriendly to new graduates entering the workforce and inevitable relationship problems has left us confused, sexually frustrated and tragically unprepared for "real life."
Enter CAPS and our counseling sessions. It started as a joke - an item on the list, a way to utilize our precious, exorbitant student funds - and quickly turned into a serious venture into (apparently) much-needed therapy.
Turns out I'm not crazy - as I had expected - but have an unhealthy amount of stressors in my life. I seem to remember the word "obscene" being used. Turns out that, in actuality, I'm just like most college students.
College students experience depression in disproportionate numbers to the general population, socialworktoday.com reports. A health report from pcusa.org names stress as one of the leading triggers of depression.
"The 2005 National College Health Assessment, a survey of nearly 17,000 college students conducted by the American College Health Association, revealed that 25 percent [of students] reported they 'felt so depressed it was difficult to function' three to eight times during the past year," socialworktoday.com reports. "And 21 percent reported they 'seriously considered suicide' one or more times during the past year."
Filled with pressures of all kinds - academic, social, transitional, work-related, financial - these terrifying numbers are unfortunately understandable in the contemporary collegiate atmosphere.
Not only are we, as students, concerned with our grades, our social lives, family problems and our ever-growing debt, but increasing numbers of college students also divide their time to include work.
As of 2001, 57 percent of college students held part-time jobs, according to "Learning and Earning: Working in College," a report commissioned by Upromise, an educational organization. Add seven years and yearly increases in tuition and it is clear to see that number is doing nothing but rising. Even more disturbing - the same report claims that from 1985 to 2000 - the number of college students working full-time jobs and taking full course loads nearly doubled, from 5.6 percent to 10.4 percent.
Considering another eight years have passed, it wouldn't be surprising if that number has doubled once again.
College students are taking on increasing amounts of stress. We live in a nation where higher education is an expectation for most (unfortunately not for all) but is only attainable for a few, without working unmanageable hours.
I'm that college student. And after one session at CAPS and reading these numbers, I've realized that my tactic of dealing with stress all through college (be the Energizer Bunny) - doesn't work. To fight the stress you have to learn that it exists and learn how to manage it.
Talking to someone helps. You can reach CAPS at 402-472-7450.
Between midterms, resume-workshops, internship applications and our sweet college social lives - it's a wonder we're not all feeling crazy. Or are we?
Even if you don't think you're in the percentages of students facing dangerous stress levels or depression, think about visiting CAPS. As a student, you receive three free sessions. If the most you get out of it is a realization that you can't do it all and that slowing down and taking time for yourself is important - you've succeeded.
For me, CAPS seemed like a preventative measure - end it before it starts. But after one session, I realized it started long ago. It began four years ago as a freshman, living in Abel Hall and fighting pressures then. And those were the easy years…
I have an obscene amount of stressors in my life, and it's likely that you do, too. Talk to someone and find a way to manage your stress. I've made the executive decision that my stressors indicate a serious quarter-life crisis:
I'm in a transitional place of not knowing who I am in a professional world or where I'm going in that world. And even though I'm not crazy (yet) - having a quarter-life crisis gives me privilege to act like it. So I make lists.
Next time you see someone doing alternative studying in the library or playing Frisbee golf during a tailgate with tequila at the Lincoln zoo - that's probably me - managing my stress. What do you do?
(I apologize in advance to the lovely librarians and workers of Love Library. No books or other library equipment were defiled in the writing or preparation of this column. I appreciate everything you do.)
Cyndi Waite is a senior English and film studies major. Reach her at opinion@dailynebraskan.com.
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