So this week was my first week of college. I graduated high school last May and took fall semester off before starting community college this spring. This week was my first week and I’ve come home from school crying every night. I’m conflicted because I love my courses and my professors despite the fact that I’m just taking General ed because my cc doesn’t offer my major. I want to go to college because I want to be successful in the future. I love learning but I feel so stressed and I worry for my health. My anxiety is part of the reason why I couldn’t go away to one of all the 4 year universities I was accepted to. It’s only the first week but I’ve considered dropping out because I’m scared of failing and wasting my parents money. I’m willing to work hard to achieve a good gpa so I could transfer in a few years but I’m scared that I will love my motivation sort of like I am right now. My school stresses me out because the staff can be very unorganized and they don’t tell us stuff with time… then we’re expected to fix the problem as if it were our fault. I get that I have to be responsible for my own things but how can I take responsibility when they don’t notify me of things ahead of time? I’m especially worried because my college classifies me as out of state, even though I’m a resident of Georgia, and they didn’t tell me on time for me to file a petition for reclassification. This wasn’t something I could have prevented because I filled out my fafsa very early and I submitted everything since the beginning of the fall semester. Then they tell me that I am classified as out of state a week before I have to pay my dues… I did get a lot taken off my balance because of pell grant but another reason for me being at cc is because it’s cheaper and then they come out with this crap??
Please let me know if any of you have felt like this before because I feel alone. It’s not that I need to get involved more at school or anything like that because I planned on doing that and the people at my college are very friendly so I feel comfortable. My parents have told me to do my best and that I don’t need to stress myself out trying to be the best for them or my siblings but for myself. I just worry a lot because of my anxiety and it causes me to not be able to eat well… I also can’t help but think about the worst case scenarios for everything in my life (due to my anxiety) but I don’t want to take medicine for it. Are there any natural ways to deal with it? Thank you so much for listening to me and sorry this was messy I just can’t really organize my thoughts right now I have a lot going on.
I can understand a lot of the emotions that you are feeling right now. I think your anxiety is a result of a lot of stress that you are putting on yourself. You had an unfortunate mishap with your college. Are you feeling less motivated towards school because of this? If you say that you are willing to put in the effort to get good grades then why should you be afraid of failing? Good grades will come as long as you put in the time and effort into your studies. I think a good way of dealing with anxiety is to talk to somebody. Try meeting with a counselor or advisor. They are there to help you.
Thank you so much! Yes I’ve been stressed because I sort of have to figure everything out on my own since it’s hard to communicate this sort of stuff with my parents. I was feeling unmotivated but I managed to figure everything out and I’m basically going to college for free now so I’m really grateful. I guess I said I was afraid of failing because I tend to doubt myself in moments like this and it’s not the first time I had a habit of doing that in high school even though I always had good grades. Thanks for your advice I will definitely try to talk someone although I feel like I can’t rely on the staff at my school.
Try not to think about the whole thing at once. Get up in the morning, do your best for that day, then go to bed and start again the next day. Stay on top of your work by keeping up in the same step by step fashion. Getting a workbook that helps with stress management and positive self talk might also help. You can do this!
If you look back at the many posts which are similar to this, from late August and September, you will see that you are not alone. This is very common. The good news is that everyone eventually settles into the routine of college and most students manage to get through it. Some manage it better than others, but you have to persevere.
You are becoming an adult. This is a challenging time in your life, and you can’t just crumple and surrender to your worries after a week of college. You HAVE to rise to the challenge. Make yourself proud of YOU, and everyone else will be proud of you too. And as advised by northern mom, take it a day at a time. Don’t allow yourself to feel overwhelmed by taking everything into account at once.
Yes, there are natural ways to deal with anxiety. Deep breathing is enormously helpful. You can do it anytime, anywhere. There are plenty of other natural ways to cope with anxiety. Do a bit of googling. And see if your college has a counseling center. If so, use it. They want students to succeed.
It’s great that you think people at your school are friendly. Get involved in campus activities. Take the opportuntiy to make new friends. Maximize your community college experience, and understand that this is college, not high school. It is your responsibility to figure out when things are due, what resources are available (tutroing centers, etc…) and how to manage your workload. I do feel like you are blaming the school and the teachers for simply doing what is normal at a college level. No more hand holding. You are in college. It’s now solely up to you to attend lectures, do the work, and study. Be glad you are at a community college, because it is somewhat easier to ease into college life that way instaed of plunging right into a four year college. The stern mom side of me is telling you that you do need to grow up a bit, but I say it with kindness. 
You will be fine if you understand that you are at college to learn and to take advantage of the opportunities that are available. Good luck.
Is there a reason that you don’t want to take medication? Does it make your condition worse or your body doesn’t react well to it? I understand that you may not want to, but if it’s possible, I think you should at least consider it as an option if your anxiety becomes worse. There’s nothing wrong with taking medication - I have a friend with anxiety who takes medication for it and it helps her a lot. Again, I’m not pushing you to do this, and I think it’s a great idea to start off looking for natural ways to deal with your anxiety.
Otherwise, I agree with everything that everyone else has said. Seek out the school’s counseling, talk and communicate when you’re feeling stressed, seek out tutoring or help if you’re having trouble with classes, maybe even think about taking up a relaxing hobby to calm yourself down when you’re stressed? Do you like to exercise? There are also adult coloring books and whatnot for stress relief as well.
Before you even get to the question of medication, have you seen a therapist? I imagine your school has a counseling center. I think you would benefit greatly from seeing a counselor. Have you done that?