Girl, Stressed Out

UCLA freshman Courtney Luckhardt is taking three classes this semester, spends 28 hours a week on homework and an additional 10 or more grading high school papers to earn money.

Last week she had a quiz on Christian iconography one day, a term paper on Sophocles’ “Antigone� due the next, and an astronomy midterm to take the day after. All that on top of a busy work schedule.

On her own for the first time, the biggest challenge for the history major from the East Bay is balancing school, work and a social life.

“I’m feeling pretty stressed out because not only do I have a lot of essays to do, but at the high school where I correct essays, the semester ends in two weeks. So all the teachers are giving tons of papers,� said Luckhardt, 18. “I’m supposed to work 10 to 15 hours a week. It’s usually closer to 10. In the last week, I’ve worked 21 hours.�

Luckhardt is in good company. A record 30.2% of freshmen reported feeling “frequently overwhelmed� by all they have to do, according to a survey released last week by the American Council on Education and UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute. That’s up from 16% who reported feeling stressed out when the national survey of students on campuses across the country first incorporated the question 15 years ago.

By a wide margin, freshman stress is a women’s problem. Thirty-nine percent of the women surveyed reported feeling overwhelmed, up from 19.6% in 1985. Among male freshman, 20% reported feeling frequently overwhelmed, up from 12% in 1985.

Linda J. Sax, the UCLA education professor who directs the American Freshmen Survey, said she believes the responses represent more than mere whining.

“It all centers around the busy lives that students have.�

While there is little argument that stress among college students is on the rise, the gender gap is a riddle. Experts--and students themselves--can’t agree on whether it is real or perceived.

Sax said she believes it.

“These gender differences in stress, part of it has to do with men and women spending their time differently. Women spend their time on more stressful activities, or more time-consuming activities, like studying, volunteer work, helping with the household and also student clubs and groups,� Sax said. “Men are spending more time on recreational or stress-relieving activities--partying, watching TV, exercising and playing video games.�

Women May Recognize Their Stress More Readily

Kathleen Fritchey, a clinical psychologist who has been a counselor at Cal State Northridge since 1966, doesn’t buy the gender gap.

“We have many more women that come for counseling than men, and I think it’s not because the stress is very much different. But I think women are able to identify that they’re kind of stressed and admit to it and get help if they recognize it. I think men are just as stressed, but they don’t identify it as much.�

Dan Idell, a first-year business major at UCLA from San Diego, said he doesn’t see a difference in men’s and women’s stress levels. He said the pressure he feels is “not that bad.�

“There’s some stress, but most of it’s what people put on themselves,� he said.

The 18-year-old fraternity pledge said he relieves his stress by partying and lifting weights four times a week.

“I see kids studying, like, all the time. A lot of those people don’t know how to take care of their stress. They don’t exercise enough. They don’t go out and party, socialize or anything. A lot of people just don’t have releases for their tension, and the stress just kind of builds up and they get overanxious.�

Claire Scharf, 19, a second-year math major at UCLA, said she and her roommates have developed techniques for coping with stress, with eating and watching television chief among them. But she does believe women have a tougher time with it.

“Women tend to be a little more overwhelmed than guys just because guys are little more kicked-back,� Scharf said. “Girls are more stressed out about appearance and doing well in school and relationships and stuff like that.�

Little Sleep, Lots of Studying

To Luckhardt, the pressure feels very real. Thursday is her busiest day--the best glimpse into the coed’s frenetic life. After studying until 1 a.m. the night before, she wakes at 7:30, stops in her dorm’s cafeteria for a quick muffin, then treks 20 minutes to a two-hour literature lecture that begins at 9 a.m.

“It’s a walk,� Luckhardt said. “It’s a lot of hills and a lot of stairs. It’s a big campus.�

Her dorm is a remote one, so, instead of returning there for lunch, she studies at the student union. Then it’s back to class for an art history lecture and two-hour writing seminar.

“I worked hard last quarter,� said Luckhardt, who so far has a 4.0 grade average, “but this quarter I’m working a lot more.�

Luckhardt said she does not play video games. And, aside from a nightly half-hour “ ‘Jeopardy’ addiction� and a once-a-week gathering with friends to watch “Felicity,� she does not watch TV.

She said she sees a difference in how her male and female friends cope with stress.

“It’s not like men are lazy, but the guys that I know spend a lot more time just relaxing. They like to work out. They like to brag about how much weight they lift. I work out, but I do it because I want to be thinner. I don’t do it because it relieves stress for me.�

UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute began the Freshmen Survey in 1966. The results are used by 462 participating colleges and universities looking to get benchmark information on their students and to track trends.

Sax said the survey, which polled 261,217 freshmen this year, has had a big impact on college campuses, particularly in expanding student affairs programs.

“The whole series of surveys has shown the importance of student involvement in college. Students who get more involved in clubs and groups and spend more time engaged in their studies and extracurriculars tend to [have more] success during college.�

Rising Tuition Means Financial Pressure

But additional activities on top of classwork leave little room for much else, namely working, which more and more students must do to support themselves. College tuitions have increased dramatically over the last 20 years. The average tuition at a four-year institution has more than doubled since 1980; however, the median family income for the parents of college-age children has increased only 12%.

The latest survey blamed much of the reported increase in freshman stress levels on students’ need to work. Nearly 5% of all freshmen work full time while attending college, up from 2.2% in 1985, according to the survey.

“What happens is that a lot builds up for the last three weeks of the semester, but their work schedules can’t change. They are really dependent on that money. It’s not like they can take off work those days,� said Cal State’s Fritchey.

Leaving Home Forces Kids to Grow Up

The transition from living at home with her family in Dublin, Calif., to living on her own is the source of some of Luckhardt’s stress.

“I can’t say, ‘Hey mom, I need $20. Hey, mom, I need gas money,’ which is what I did all through high school. I’ve had to figure out how to be a grown-up on that one.�

With hopes of attending graduate school, Luckhardt’s primary source of stress is her desire for good marks.

“There’s definitely more pressure on me scholastically because I’m surrounded by really smart people.�

Damon Willick, 28, is a teaching assistant in Luckhardt’s art history class. A graduate student, he received his bachelor’s degree from UCLA in 1994. Willick said he sees a lot more stress among freshmen now than when he was an undergraduate.

“They’re more concerned with their letter grade. There’s a feeling that there’s only so many A’s out there per class, and they all want to get the A, so there’s this competition,� he said. “More students want to go to graduate school. When I was a freshman that wasn’t as much of a focus, and that really wasn’t that long ago.�

Jim Blackwood, a Venice High School teacher for whom Luckhardt corrects papers, said the pressure starts in high school and stems from the increasingly competitive nature of college admissions.

“You ought to see my first and third period [advanced placement] classes,� Blackwood said. “It’s the same kids, just a year removed.�

A teacher for more than 36 years, Blackwood says he has watched student stress levels rise over the past 15 years and that the survey results are just as applicable to high-school seniors as they are to college freshmen.

Sax agreed, saying, “The whole pressure to get into college does trickle down to earlier and earlier years.

“One of the many reasons [more students feel stressed] has to do with admissions. They are applying to more colleges than ever before, and we know the admissions process is more competitive than it’s ever been.�

Getting good grades and scoring well on admissions tests is no longer enough to ensure entry to a top-notch school. More and more, a track record of extracurricular and volunteer activities is necessary to win students admission. And increasingly, that volunteerism begins at younger and younger ages, setting the stage for stress.

“Especially in high school, the way I relaxed, it wasn’t even really relaxation. It was more like, go and do this club, do this volunteer work,� said Luckhardt, who took part in a number of extracurricular activities while in high school. She edited the high school newspaper, participated in mock trial, tutored classmates and volunteered as a reader for underprivileged elementary school children twice a week.

Still, Luckhardt’s life is busier now than it was in high school.

“Before, I was able to get out of school, do mock trial for a couple hours, come home, study for a few hours and watch TV or talk to my friends. Here, I spend a lot more of my time working, studying, reading. I’ve never worked so hard in my entire life.�

Susan Carpenter can be reached at [email protected].