Organizational Behavior - Essay Example

I am going to describe a situation that causes me stress. The problem is in my everyday personal life at Unlike other American English is not my first language. It is actually my third language since Japanese is my second language and Korean is my native language. I am pretty good at writing English, but I often have troubles with conversational English. I am constantly stressed out at university because all contact with other students is a challenge in terms of communicating. “Stress is a normal physical and emotional response to events that make us feel threatened or upset the balance within” (Merrill).

One of the coping mechanisms that I use to deal with stress is being honest with others and expressing to them that I have troubles speaking English. People at school are always nice and they help me along when talking to them. When a person knows that the other has troubles with English they speak slower and use simpler language. They also listen more carefully when I talk. In the classroom when I am taking notes sometimes I have trouble understanding the English the teacher speaks. The coping mechanism I use to deal with this situation is recording all my classes in a digital recorder.

I then look back at the tape recorder and play back the part I did not understand. Whenever I need extra help a friend of mine listens to the recording and helps me out with an explanation. Sometimes at school I feel stress for other reasons such as a tough project with short deadlines or a difficult test coming up. Some of the things that help me deal with stress are listening to music, playing a classic Seinfeld episode on Hulu.com or going out with friends to watch a good movie at the theater.

In my life I feel both powerful and powerless at times. Thankfully the powerful situations outweigh the powerless. As a college student I am in a privileged situation in society because I have the opportunity to earn an education which will help me a lot in the tough and competitive labor environment of today. I live a free life without any concerns or external worries associated with being the head of a family or work related pressures. I have the opportunity to choose a college curriculum and degree that I like.

I spend my weeks going to stimulating classes that I like, while being surrounded by great people all around the university. I have met a lot of tremendous persons in school that have helped me mature as a person by interacting with me in college. I enjoy a lot my social life in college as well as my professional duties as a student. Being in college is a one in a lifetime experience that allows people to grow as individuals. Despite the good times I am having in college I often feel powerless due to my language limitations.

I often feel embarrassed when I do not understand what somebody else is telling me. Sometimes I just stand in front of people quietly without responding to their messages. My friends on the other hand know about my English problems and they are always there to provide me with friendship and support. I am fully confident that I will achieve my goal of graduating from college with a degree. Work Cited PageMerrill, L.A. 1 October 2010. “Stress: The Pro’s and Con’s.” 22 March 2013.