When starting out on my journey with resilience training, I had to reflect on my own challenges, of which there has been many (see other blogs.) However, what I realised was that there are certain periods in our life when our resilience is challenged and we become, well, a bit broken.
Those periods are often when we are in deep with working, learning and trying to meet everyone else’s expectations. Essentially when we are trying to improve and develop ourselves, something which is vital for human prosperity!
This is so true for students, whether just starting out or nearing the end, the level of pressure can become easily overwhelming as we struggle to meet the new expectations being put on us. We then forget to look after our own wellbeing.
Often becoming a student means putting aside some of things that kept us balanced before and that’s true whether you enter university after school or have a period of employment beforehand. The truth is that the adjustment period is highly stressful and increases each year with that additional pressure.
Covid has taken its toll
Covid of course added a new level of anxiety for students as they began to feel let down and left behind by the government. As plans suddenly changed and students were locked up and learning remotely, the social aspect was inevitably taken away.
Now the restrictions have been removed or reduced, getting back to ‘normal’ is another challenge to overcome. Social anxiety has become a problem that’s not helped by concerns about travelling and attending lectures, whilst remaining safe. Everything feels uncertain.
Students have told me they feel like it will be a long time before they ‘catch up’ after they’ve had their baseline resilience reduced. Before, they thought they could do anything and now it has become apparent things can change in an instance.
During the sessions I deliver to students we look at how they can help themselves, by improving their planning skills and putting time in their schedule for reflection. This is vital as we learn so much by giving ourselves time to consider what is happening in our world and how it is affecting us.
Issues can run deep
From the four universities I have had the pleasure of working in so far, the problems faced are not rare or temporary. In fact, they can go deep. In serious cases some students report having regular feelings of impending doom. This is not a good direction.
What impact is society having on resilience? Social media and technology have brought many advances in our world; however, they also bring problems of every increasing expectation; the struggle to be the very ideal person, who does not exist, can become overwhelming. This feeling can emerge earlier that we might think.
So, with all of that said, what can we do? Invest in those who need it, support students, and validate them with reassurance and understanding. We are all on a different journey and for those studying, the journey has been mountainous so far. They need our support, our guidance, and the time to re-adjust to a brighter future.
