Texan Mosaic

Students in COMM 2311-601 helped write this story as a group, choosing quotes, discussing sources, organizing paragraphs, and sometimes submitting photos.  These students include:  Dylan Acosta, Sofia Carrillo, Pedro Figueroa, Kristy Gomez, and Victor Ramirez.  Most photographs are from students in COMM 1318 Photography 1.

Grab that backpack.  School is back at South Plains College.  Fall classes began Aug. 25 on all five SPC campuses. Classes started the same day at nearby Texas Tech and Lubbock Christian University.

Whether it’s buying school supplies, or learning your way around campus, the first week of classes can be stressful for many students.

Many students settled into dorm rooms.

At the Lubbock Downtown Center, parking lots were crowded by 10 a.m. early in the week.

The area just inside the doors filled up quickly with students already working on laptops.

Third-semester student Jaleigh Hinojosa says it will be an “interesting” semester because she’s taking five classes and she’s never done that before. 

“I am taking a hard math class,” she says, “and I’m taking two writing classes.”

Student Sofia Carrillo says if she had to use one word to describe her first week of classes the word would be “complex”.   Like Hinojosa, she thinks math may be a challenge.

“I’m a little worried about math,” she says, “but I’m just going to study a little harder”.

So, with possible challenges ahead, why not try to avoid stress this semester before it even starts?

According to collegiateparent.com, a website that offers resources and support for parents and families of college students, there are lots of practical tips students can use to avoid stress. 

Some of these include:

• Make a study schedule
• Determine your ideal study spot and times
• Hydrate
• Breathe
• Nourish
• Attend to self- care
• Intentionally focus on sleep quantity and quality

Becky Canon, the SPC director of Health and Wellness, adds another couple of tips to the list.  She points out our bodies perceive the glare and blue light from screens as sunlight.  So, she suggests turning off screens an hour before you go to sleep.

“Force yourself to stop scrolling,” she says, “watching movies, or gaming and get the rest your body needs! Read a book, draw or color pictures, or meditate, stretching exercises, or journal.”

Another stress prevention measure Canon suggests is something called mindfulness which she says can help calm you down and keep you from overthinking.

Mindfulness techniques, she says, can include just about anything.  Some suggestions include:

• deep breathing (breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds, focus only on your breath)
• body scan (close your eyes and focus on different parts of your body from head to toe, notice sensations without judgement, use it when you are tense, overthinking, or trying to fall asleep),
• or pausing for gratitude (each day, note three things you are grateful for, focus on feeling the appreciation, use it when stress turns into negativity or cynicism). 

Even though the semester is just getting started, before you know it, it’ll be midterm exam time. 

The good news is, now that students are in college, they no longer have to ride the school bus.       

Welcome back!