Critical Analysis of Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Students - Essay Example

?Osama Alnassir Tulley English 104 8 July Critical Analysis of “Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Millennial generation youngsters go through a series of transitional stages at the time they enter their college lives. This new experience of independence and challenging situations leads to stressful circumstances which are too much for students to handle, be it academic strain to achieve good grades, the degree of liberal decision-making or the pressurizing demands of mentors and parents. A powerful research study, namely “Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Students” has been selected for studying thoroughly on this subject-matter before drawing conclusions. This essay was written in June 2012 collectively by four authors: Helen W. Bland, Bridget F. Melton, Paul Welle and Lauren Bigham. The authors deliver the idea therein that relatively newer generations have poor control and tolerance against stress and eventually they engage themselves in avoidance and denial strategies that are damaging for their welfare. The authors have targeted the college students of millennial generations, their families and their mentors who play a pivotal role in personal and professional development of students. I strongly believe that although stress might not be of severe degree as depicted by this article, still considerable amount of trauma is faced by these teenagers and thus measures need to be taken to help them overcome these obstacles. This study presents concrete arguments for its thesis and has proved to be highly effective for my research, providing me with extensive literature material and fruitful research benefits. This article entails possible causes for stress, found in college students, alongwith potential solutions to overcome it as it poses severe psychological and physical threats to sensitive youngsters during their critical ages. It concludes that millennial generations bear adverse characteristics and indulge in unproductive activities to fight stress. My perception revolves more or less around the same grounds as those exhibited by the authors of article in focus. The major part of thesis supported by authors is in line with my personal dissertation regarding this subject-matter: college students desperately need to be more trained to learn coping strategies that shall prove to be helpful for them, in their couple of years spent while studying for an undergraduate degree, to excel at pressure-handling and stress-busting tools and techniques. The essay selected is persuasive and effective in most of the arguments presented except for few areas where authors have made controversial claims, contradictory to my beliefs. They have been discussed in the following paragraphs: The opening section of the selected article contains an expression stating “college years have been considered as one of the most stressful times in a person's life” (Bland et al. 362). The above statement is highly subjective and prejudiced to personal experiences and mindsets. The authors are of the view that college life represents one of the most traumatic periods. On the contrary, the masses believe college life to be one of the most memorable periods of life spent in leisure, with no responsibilities and tension. I strongly believe that the later parts of human lives are far more stressful than college days due to pressure to earn a livelihood and survive in the competitive world. In spite of some powerful notions presented by authors, the exaggerated aspects of the essay weaken their position. The minor degree of academic stress and pressures to meet expectations can, on the other hand, prove out to be positive energy (known as eu-stress) for the students to work hard and perform well. Similarly, the limitations paragraph clearly states, “Since the participants were solicited from a medium-size university in the southeastern portion of the United States, the results of the study may not be representative of all college millennials” (Bland et al. 372). In addition, it tells, “additional research should be performed with participants across the college spectrum. Finally, due to the research methodology, cause and effect cannot be determined” (Bland et al. 372). This quoted statement clearly shows that due to nature of sampling, the results only give a limited assurance regarding the behavior of members pertaining to this generation. As a result, considering these results to be conclusive shall be unfair. I believe that in order to narrow down such an immense research with voluminous information available, researchers must commit more time to conduct several studies before reaching a conclusion. But authors limited their research to a single strategy, putting their conclusions in doubt. It mandates mentioning the last quote where the author fails to take into account the emotional susceptibilities of younger generations. I believe that feelings at this tender age of students are very vulnerable to being shattered by reason of events that even might not be that significant. At this point of time, parents’ support is highly valued. Therefore, I strongly disagree with the author’s opinion that independence of students must be promoted. They are more attached to their parents and have not ‘left their nests’ completely. At this point of time, they need financial and moral support of their parents, siblings and mentors. This degree of dependence is considered as disadvantageous by the authors in their article. They have suggested that the sooner students get total isolation from parents, the better for them to be able to handle stress. This doesn’t sound rational; I am completely against the notion of this separation when college teenagers are at the verge of hitting maturity. This is the most vulnerable age for them since this is when their mindsets, beliefs and attitudes are shaped for future lives. Youngsters at these ages are highly susceptible to be engaged in unhealthy habits. In need of strict supervision and support from parents, these students should release their stress by sharing their troubles with their families and in turn their families must be educated to provide them adequate advisory support and mentoring. The article, however, has provided very logical arguments in support of their thesis, which came in handy for me in preparing my own dissertation. Major proportion of text presents true and fair information and recommendations for readers especially parents and teachers while it is a must read for students who are looking for solitude. It will be safe to draw conclusion from this discussion that stress plays a major part in lives of college students and if not tackled properly, it ravages their cognitions and leave permanent marks on their brains. However, these students should not be allowed to deploy ineffective and injurious strategies to kill stress temporarily. The choice of this essay for my research proved out to be very beneficial as the thesis presented by authors is very similar to my viewpoints except for the areas of contention mentioned previously. Moreover, the arguments provided by them are very persuasive and rational, which in turn has been properly supported by findings of their research survey and sound analysis. I truly perceive stress to be a significant hindrance for youngsters who have never faced such tension previously in their childhood ages. Therefore, they need good support, education and training in order to learn how to cope with these evolving circumstances. Furthermore, authors need to conduct additional studies in order to narrow down their conclusions more accurately. Based on given knowledge, it can be deduced that freshmen students come across stressful situations in their day-to-day academic activities and the counter-strategies used by them might be helpful in the short-term to overcome difficulties but in the long-run these unproductive devices have multiplying repercussions and side effects. Work Cited Bland, Helen W., et al. "Stress Tolerance: New Challenges for Millennial College Students." College Student Journal 46.2 (2012): 362-375. Print. Read More