Speakers stress importance of life balance

Author: Johanna Interian

If you are too busy or stressed to read this article, then you are part of a campus-wide trend.

While it is nearly impossible to definitively quantify and compare stress levels over the years (attempts have been made at this - read on), there is a general concurrence among students and especially faculty that the workload at Middlebury - and with it, the level of stress among the members of the College community - has been on the rise.

On Wednesday, Feb. 25 an open forum was held to discuss these issues and establish possible solutions. The forum, titled "Work Hard, Play Hard - Stress Hard?", was advertised throughout the campus and open to all, but eventually attracted only nine students, several of whom were there on behalf of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Campus Stress. Over 20 staff members were in attendance, including professors from various departments, dining services staff and psychologists from the Center for Counseling and Human Resources.

Having the forum during midterms week must have been a deterrent to students whose priorities were to complete papers and study for exams, but others who did not attend simply feel that there is no prospect of change when it comes to stress at Middlebury. Most students get to Middlebury after years of toiling in advanced classes and intense academic environments and have essentially grown accustomed to the rigorous academic climate that characterizes Middlebury.

"If you're coming to see me, you're probably stressed," joked Dean of the College Gus Jordan as he introduced himself. His position requires him to confront the predicaments stress creates on a daily basis and he is convinced that there is a problem at Middlebury.

"How do we know we're afflicted? By the lack of counterevidence to suggest stress is not a problem," said Jordan.

As part of his work study, Michael Nevadomski '09 has been compiling research to find out whether there has in fact been an increase in the workload at Middlebury in comparison to previous years at the college and also to other NESCAC schools.

"I was asked to pull syllabi from the present day and (more or less) similar classes from 1998 across levels and departments and compare the numbers: increase in pages assigned, essays assigned, different weights, etc," said Nevadomski. "About halfway through the math and biology departments, I realized how ineffectual this was - as you know, there's no real way to tell how stressful a class is going to be based on the hard figures."

His research has led to some conclusive results, however. Through interviews with professors and students, Nevadomski found that there has been an increase in the amount of "police work" - such as pop quizzes and reaction papers. He has discovered that many professors do not even read or evaluate these assignments, and simply give them to students to make sure they are keeping up with the coursework.

Academics are not the only source of stress, though. Some students in the forum brought up how social stress is just as much a part of being a college student and that it is sometimes harder to deal with than academic stress, which is more predictable and in our control.

Mark Stefani, a neuroscience professor from the psychology department, is interested in the biological and social aspect of stress and is particularly concerned with what he terms the "myth of multi-tasking."

"Trying to do more in tiny little fragments is a modern-day myth," he said. He urged students and faculty alike to focus on one activity or assignment and put aside other distractions, such as e-mail and answering phone calls, in order to be more efficient and less prone to last-minute deadlines that will inevitably increase stress.

Sometimes doing more is not always the problem, however. Yonna McShane, director of Learning Resources, pointed out that being idle is not necessarily more appealing than feeling overextended. "Boredom is an incredibly stressful state," she said, and encouraged students to find a balance in their commitments on campus.

Elise Cohen '11 sees benefits in her extracurricular involvements. "Being on the crew team has helped me with time management and is also calming," said Cohen.

Apart from extracurricular activities serving as therapeutic, other remedies were also discussed. MiDDialogue is proposing a silent lunch area once per week, where interested students can go to eat a quiet meal at a designated area in the dining hall.

C.A. Johnson Fellow in Political Philosophy Kateri Carmola insisted that pass/fail courses should be permitted and also indicated that sometimes students overestimate the importance of grades and professors' expectations. She also suggested that certain college policies, such as the 24/7 library hours during finals week, inadvertently promote stress.

"What message is this sending; that students should be up at 3 in the morning studying all week?" said Carmola.

There will be a "Managing Academic Stress" workshop on Thursday, April 2 in Library Room 145, where various stress management techniques and relaxation exercises will be taught.