For Tylre Bigbie, sleep takes a back seat. The sophomore said her schoolwork and social relationships take precedent over her sleep cycle.

"It never seems like you have enough time in the day for all three so usually you don't get as much sleep as you'd like because you feel you don't want to or can't sacrifice much of your social life and school work," Bigbie said.

But she is not the only college student who struggles with the delicate balancing act.

Katie King, associate director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, said having good support groups is important, but that students need to have effective strategies for dealing with stress.

"Everyone experiences stress in their life," she said. "It's not the stress you experience, it's how you cope with it, and those with good coping strategies are more resilient in the face of stressors."

Bruce Nelson, coordinator of Counseling Services, said it is when unexpected things occur in life is when people can no longer handle their stress load, which if not mitigated can then turn into distress.

[quote]"If there are things we don't anticipate like getting sick or someone at home getting sick that can add to the stress," Nelson said. "Over time, we override our natural capacity to relax, and that might lead one to become more distressed and then it takes more time to get one back into balance."[/quote]

Distress occurs when a person can no longer adapt to stress, and this can lead to anxiety, depression or other mental and physical problems.

He said it is especially an issue for freshmen, although students of all years are affected. This is because students coming in have high expectations and a lot of demands of themselves.

Students must also revise their strategies for time management with the new course loads and social demands.

"I think freshman year will be one of the biggest times of change they will experience, and I don't know if they understand the amount of change that will occur on every level," Nelson said. "With clubs, there are like a zillion things, and I think for freshmen that can be overwhelming."

Freshman Alexis Seidel, who plays club volleyball, said volleyball does not take away from her focus on academics because she does not allow it to, but she sees how it could if she becomes more involved on other organizations or if her classes get busier.

She finds the social aspects to be more of a stressful change.

"It's harder to balance my friends here," Seidel said. "I have two separate groups that I hang out with so I have to balance my time with them."

Nelson also said stress and distress tend to pull people off their basic needs, and that is what the counselors mainly talk about with students.

He suggests students work on personal awareness so they can feel where they might be out of balance.

"If I had to pick three things that are in our control that can mitigate stress they are sleep, nutrition and something physical if that physical activity is not stressful," Nelson said. "Something that gets one outside of their thinking mind."

There is research that shows exercising for 30 minutes three to four times a week can have a similar effect as anti-depressive and anti-anxiety medication, according to Nelson.

Another powerful mediation for stress is having safe, supportive relationships where someone is not judged and can talk about what is going on in their lives, Nelson said.

Both Nelson and King said stress narrows our focus, and that when we get inside ourselves we cannot view things in context.

"The more stressed we get the more narrow we can get, so I stress people to be on the look out for relationships or experiences that are more expansive," Nelson said. "Something that gets us outside ourselves."

King said having a wider view on life is gained over time.

"That's a huge part of development," she said. "Seeing things in context and that you have control over them."

But Nelson said the good news is that research now shows most people are very resilient when it comes to stress, and instead of focusing on the few who do not deal well with stress or trauma, the new research is looking at how to strengthen resilience in people.

He advises students to be aware of the signs of stress.

"The best advice I can give is do a self-awareness check when things might fall out of balance and see what steps one might take to restore that balance before it can turn to distress," Nelson said. "Staying on top of things academically, knowing yourself, and seeking outside resources can go a long way"