We can all agree that this year has been a rollercoaster of emotions for everyone. Especially those in schools. Due to COVID-19, all students had to switch to online classes, prom was cancelled, and graduation was online instead of in person. You’re probably wondering, what will we do with this new age of uncertainty? Well, I have the answer for you. Continue your education. College in the new age is a scary thing, but there are ways to make that a little easier and less stressful for everyone.

Find Ways to Destress

During this time of uncertainty with a pandemic, there can be multiple stressors that cause people to become anxious, depressed, or even unmovitated. Some stressors are the pandemic itself, school, family, relationships of any kind, and finding a job. However, there are ways to become less stressed. Here are some detailed ways of becoming less stressed and more productive.

• Create a bullet journal! Bullet journals are not only meant to bring out your creative side, but you can easily make lists of whatever you need to get done! Need to make a grocery list? School supply list? To do list? Create a bullet journal! Decorating the bullet journal is a good destressor because it brings out your creative side and makes you not think about subjects that are too stressful.
  
• Yoga/Meditation: Something that calms a large number of people down from their thoughts is meditation. The idea of breathing in and out slowly and exhaling slowly is one of the best ways to calm yourself down, lower your anxiety, and destress yourself. Medidation/yoga also lowers high blood pressure along with relaxing the mind and body.
  
• Unplug! Avoid the news and anything else that may have caused you to be stressed. It’s impossible to escape the world around you when there’s social media updating you on every little thing that has happened/is happening. It’s okay to get away from the world for a little while; allowing yourself to give yourself a breath of fresh air. Take time each day, even if it’s just for a couple minutes to escape from the world.
  
• Stay positive! Laughter is shown to lower levels of stress along with smiling. It takes more muscles to frown than to smile! This may be tough, but you are tougher!
  
• Connect with Nature: Spending time outside in nature is good for your health, body, and mind. It helps relieve feelings of worry, anxiety, and stress. Exposure to nature makes you feel better emotionally and physically. Taking fifteen minutes a day to walk outside and embrace nature really helps not only your health, but your mental well being too.
  
• Listening to Soothing Music: Listening to calming music is a way to calm nerves. As someone who has anxiety such as myself, I find that listening to soft, quiet music always brings up my spirits. Soothing music can even slow down the pulse and heart rate, lower blood pressure, and lower the stress hormones. Research shows that listening to music can help people with bipolar disorder. It can get that person through their worst moods.
  
• Connect with Those Around You: Connect with friends and family! In this new digital age where everything is online, it can be hard to connect with those around you, but as someone once said, “Nobody is too busy. Time management is key.” Humans are naturally social creatures that require social interaction to keep their mind off of stressful situations. We crave feeling supported. Studies have shown that being socially connected can increase your happiness levels and lead to a happier life.
  

As you can see, there are plenty of healthy and happy ways to make your life less stressful.

Ways to be Social in a Pandemic

In this current pandemic, it can be hard to connect with people. Whether it be friends, family, or even strangers that you want to turn into friends. However, there is a solution to it: it’s called the internet. Luckily for us humans, we live in a world where there is the internet and social media. We often find ourselves being shy in person, but more loud through social media and text. It’s all about finding that balance of social media and texting so you don’t become too overwhelmed with it all. Here are some ways to be social without seeing people in person.

• Facetime: The good old fashion facetime, it never goes out of style. It’s one of the easiest ways (if you have an iphone) to communicate with people without actually seeing them in person.
  
• Snapchat video: The second best thing to facetime. Works with and without an iphone! You can easily snap, chat, send videos, and even snapchat videos with up to four people at once! Talk about a whole lot of communication!
  
• Texting: You can’t go wrong with texting. It maay be hard to understand a person's emotions behind the text, unless they're using emojis of course, but nevertheless, texting is one of the best possible ways to communicate during the pandemic.
  

As you can see there are these options to finding ways to communicate with people without seeing them in person. There are also plenty of other ways to communicate without being able to see them in person.

Ways to Pass your Classes

Online classes can be tough. Especially if the way you learn is through in-person classes rather than online classes. However, there are still ways to pass your classes and become that A+ student you strive to be. Here are some ways to pass your classes. Some tips and tricks, if you will.

• Remain Focused: As hard as it is to remain focused with social media just a tab/click away, remain focused on the task at hand. Give yourself fifteen minute study breaks when doing homework or studying in order to give yourself a break from the task at hand. Giving yourself a break will give you the re-energized feeling you need to remain focused.
  
• Study! Study! Study! Studying is the key to success as some might say. Give yourself time out of your day in order to study and also give yourself breaks inbetween studying to make sure you’re not burning yourself out.
  
• Organize your classes: For me, personally, getting multiple binders for multiple classes, labeling each one, printing out the syllabus, and sticking it in the binder really helps me feel much more confident in those classes. The reason is, because I have the ability to look back at the syllabus for what I need to do for the homework that is due. Overall, being organized is a step in the right direction.
  
• Do your homework! One of the most important things in college is doing homework and getting good grades! Even if it only counts as two percent of your grade, every little point helps especially when it comes down to the final. More importantly, it will help you be able to use it to check how well you understand the material.
  
• Show up to class (online), even if they are optional: This is because getting notes from someone else rarely helps and makes up for not attending class. You’ll be more attentive and likely to succeed in the class if you are learning and absorbing the information than getting notes from another classmate.
  
• Ask for help when you need it! There is much less hand holding in college. However, if you are struggling with the material, ask for help! Teachers are there for a reason, they are there to help you overcome any obstacles.
  
• Make friends with your classmates: You can get notes from them, but it’s better to make friends with your classmates in order to understand the material beter and make sure that you know what you both are talking about.
  

As you can see, online classes may be a struggle, but there are plenty of ways to succeed in school even when classes are online.

Be Positive!

Times are changing, times are tough, times are unpredictable, but do not let that stop you from being positive and changing the way you think in a more positive way. Being positive not only helps your mental state, but it helps your overall health too. Here are three main ways to become positive.

• Focus on the good things: It can be tough when all around you is sadness in your thoughts, in person, etc, but focusing on the good things you have in your life will make you happy and more appreciative of the good things in your life.
  
• Keep a gratitude journal: Studies have shown that writing down three things you’re grateful for can improve your overall happiness and sense of well-being. You can do this by writing down three things you are grateful for everyday or jotting down a list of things that make you happy when you’re having a bad day.
  
• Practice positive self-talk: Practicing positive self talk can really help you over time. We are the biggest critics. Over time, these negative self-talks can cause ourselves to become anxious and depressed. To stop this, you need to become mindful of the voice in your head and respond with positive thoughts rather than the negative. Research shows that a small shift in the way you think and talk to yourself can influence your ability to make your positive feelings more regular than the latter.
  

As you can see, these three main ways to remain positive will help you gather the courage and strength in order to become more successful in the new age of college. Overall, college can be tough, but these tips and tricks will help you navigate your way through college and become successful in whatever you put your mind to.