As you may have found, most of the students are very anxious at this stage, as some of them may look forward to receiving an offer for the undergraduate program that they are interested in. While students who have received no offers would be quite desperate, others receiving more than one offers would also be in doubt about which choices will suit them most. In order to maintain their positive learning attitudes, or at least to decrease their anxiety, I would suggest the following methods for our students to ‘survive’ the examination seasons, interviews, and their future studies, etc.
- Exposure to positive images
Studies have shown that exposure to positive images tends to elevate the mood and behavior of humans. Thus, you may show students a photo with the images that you like most (such as some lovely animals), and ask our students to memorize all such images for a specific time (e.g. about 1 minute). This may fill them with joy afterwards. - Enough sleep and no coffee in the evening
When one starts feeling sleepy around bedtime, scientists believed that part of that sensation is caused by the buildup of a chemical called adenosine. Sleeping gives our brain a chance to clean out that chemical. However, caffeine from coffee can chemically block the effect of adenosine and keep you wide-awake. Lack of sleep can harm your mental health as sleep can regulate the brain’s flow of chemicals such as epinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, which are closely linked to our mood and behavior. Thus, please remind our students no matter how hard/stressful they are, sleeping is always necessary. Ask them to squeeze time from their tight schedule for sleeping. - Understanding of the true meaning of LOVE
Oxytocin is a natural LOVE hormone formed from nine amino acids made in the hypothalamus. It was found that high level of such hormone is crucial to calming the body and promoting social bonding.
I am not asking you to take any oxytocin pills, but be reminded that a good relationship with your partners, or being loved, and love others could also help the production of oxytocin to decrease anxiety and protect against stress. If possible, do more frequent hugs! Maybe that’s why in the Bible, John 13:34, Jesus taught us: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
