Stress is an inevitable part of life, but we can use that stress to make our lives interesting.
Whether stress is derived from classwork or social life, every student will experience changes during their transition to college that will push their comfort zone and demand a reaction. When faced with changes, some college students will choose to regress into their comfort zone. They will avoid facing challenges and prolong the inevitable academic and social stress that occurs during college.Â
Students that regress into their comfort zone are not allowing themselves to experience the good or bad outcome that the stressful situation will evoke. While it saves the student hardship, it deprives the student of experience. In comparison, students that move out of their comfort zone to face stressful situations often become more experienced. With experience comes a level of comfort that students adapt and accept into their comfort zone. This is because all people have a comfort zone that expands or shrinks when they decide to face or hide from change.Â
This is similar to the experience children have when learning to ride a bike. These children are fearful and stressed at the possibility of falling. The children that stay away from the bike, never grow from the experience and their comfort zone shrinks as they do not face the stressful situation. On the other hand, the children that learn to ride a bike are creating an experience that expands their comfort zone. This does not mean that every child loves to ride a bike, but it does eliminate the fear and stress of never having tried to expand their comfort zone.Â
So instead of regressing into our comfort zone when faced with challenges in college, we can expand our comfort zone by choosing to face stressful situations. This may be talking to a professor after receiving a low score on an assignment, or this may be meeting new people to eat within the dining hall. Whatever the situation, college students that face stressful situations are able to understand the outcome of that situation. The outcomes, or otherwise our experiences, do not cause stress. The outcomes themselves may be upsetting or negative, but our experiences allow us to understand the stressful element of the situation and know how to face new challenges in the future.Â
When we face stressful situations, we become stronger individuals with the ability to build our comfort zone through experience.