According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) stress, anxiety and depression are factors that contribute to the downfall of a student’s academic performance. 

Students are bombarded with assignments, readings and classes they are assigned. Most students can agree that at one point, they’ve all felt the stress of completing work on time and anxiety over whether or not they pass a test.

According to a 2015 National College Health Assessment conducted by the ADAA, 30% of college level students reported having stress and 85 % felt overwhelmed with all their tasks. What’s more is that 41.6 % of students pointed to anxiety as the main culprit found in college students. 

Kim Nguyen, senior double major in public relations and Spanish, knows what it’s like to be busy with her schedule containing five classes. “I have to actually be like, ‘okay, I have to do this ahead of time. If not, I’m not going to have time to do all of them within that day,’” Nguyen said.

Ondrea Machin, a junior majoring in digital journalism, is also taking three classes this fall quarter. According to Machin, this quarter is far more stressful than others.

“The last spring, when everyone went online, it wasn’t too bad on the homework,” Machin said. “It was kind of normal for a college, college classes, and then I feel like this quarter is a lot heavier.”

Although finals week at CWU has yet to arrive, students may accidently increase their stress or anxiety levels during finals week.

“I’m kind of nervous if I’m going to do great on the test, because the finals take a lot of percentage of our grades and if I mess it up somehow, it’s going to reflect on my grade,” Nguyen said.

Students are able to implement a variety of methods that help relieve stress. Machin likes to dance, watch movies, or make some crafts.Nguyen, on the other hand, likes to bake during her free time. 

Schools also offer resources that may be of help to students. Counselors offer one-on-one talk sessions with students. There are also practices of meditation, yoga, or coloring that can be done at home.