Max Bickley – General Assignment Reporter
Stress, especially during college years, is almost inevitable. It may come in different forms such as the ability to balance increasing loads of work, or trying to find time to spend with friends or do things outside of working hours, but it will always come. What it comes down to is the student’s ability of how to handle stress, and while sometimes a student may seem over their head, there are definite resources which students can tap into.
One such resource, as experienced this past Tuesday, was the “Take Back the Wheel” program which is going on in the Farnham Programming Space. What this past Tuesday’s meeting of the program was about was stress management, how to address your stress and how to begin handling it.
The man behind the program was Mr. Jonathan Ruiz, who in discussing the issue of stress brought up the practice of meditation.
“Meditation has been seen in psychological studies to actually help the body. Studies have found that the brain calms down, and the body is actually able to make changes needed to relax and combat stress” Ruiz said.
This was the opening practice for the “Take Back the Wheel” session, and was the main focus for the duration. With this discussion about meditation Ruiz directed the fifteen or so students present through a quick meditation.
It was a quiet period where the only voice heard was Ruiz’s, and it was a calling to block out the rest of the noises in the room, any distraction, and to forget about the worries which plagued our minds.
It seemed to last forever, but by the end many of the students said they found that it was either difficult to get focused because of everything going on, and others said it helped them forget their worries.
“This is what the beauty of the practice of meditation as a stress reliever does.” Ruiz said. “It can help us forget for a time our worries and it also helps the body relax especially if done habitually.” When asked whether he thought college students were more prone to stress, and way to manage that stress, Ruiz commented. “Of course college students are more prone to stress. Essays, jobs, and issues at home, all of this adds up to a volatile situation. One thing students can do is meditation, but also things like writing will help.”
When it came down to the actual participants of the meeting, one noticeable face was West Campus R.A., Richie Magnotti. When asked how he felt about the program Magnotti said that it was a great help. “Yeah man, I mean during the week everything just builds up so much that sometimes it can be hard to get a handle on things. Things like the ‘Take Back the Wheel’ program does help. I mean, I am an R.A., I have classes, I hang with friends, it all sometimes is stressful but I take the time and learn the lessons to help me handle it.
At the end of the program Ruiz gave a solid reminder of the different types of stress, saying that, “There is god stress which is helpful, it is like an alarm clock for the body which lets us know when to handle the issues in life. However, there is also bad stress where it’s so overwhelming it only hurts the body. What students need to learn is how to lower the bad stress and take care of any good stress.”
Photo Credit: Staff Photo
