STRESS OF DALAT UNIVERSITY ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN

UNIVERSITY OF DALAT
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH PHƯƠNG

STRESS OF DALAT UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN

Da Lat, December 2014


UNIVERSITY OF DALAT
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH PHƯƠNG
Student’s ID: 1111326

STRESS OF DALAT UNIVERSITY
ENGLISH MAJOR FRESHMEN

Name of supervisor: Nguyễn Tất Thắng, Ph.D.

Da Lat, December 2014


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This research could not have been completed without the help, encouragement, and
support of a number of people who all deserve my sincere appreciation.
First of all, I would like to express my special thanks to Dr. Nguyen Tat Thang who
inspired me to complete this study. He not also supplied me with useful knowledge, but

also proposed the topic of my research.
Secondly, this research could not have been finished without the help of eighty English
major freshmen. With their assistance, theirquestionnaires were completed on time, from
which I obtained valuable information to support my research.
Thirdly, I am grateful to my classmates from AVK35A who gave me encouragement
during this research period.
Fourthly, I would like to give my sincere thanks to Mr. Nguyen Van Chuc, a librarian at
the University of Dalat, who helped me find necessary reference materials.
Lastly, my gratitude is extended to all of my teachers in Faculty of Foreign Languages
because they were my source of meaningful, useful, and necessary knowledge. Thanks to
their effective lessons, I completed this research quickly and productively.

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ABSTRACT

Everyone experiences stress at certain times, adults or children, intellectual labor or
manual labor and so on. Especially freshmen, how to keep balance between studying and
other things like love, family, friendship is a hard thing. This study attempts to identify
the reasons and difficulties that make freshmen become stressed and the effects of stress
on Dalat University English major freshmen. Data is collected from questionnaire and
interview.80 students coming from AVK38 were interviewed in depth. Data was obtained
through the analysis of responses to their questionnaires from AVK38A,AVK38B,
AVK38C, AVK38D, and the number of interviewees was 10. The findings show that not
only students from remote hometown, ethnic groups, and female students are stressed
more than the other students, but also reveal the positive attitudes of these stressed
students. Finally, the researchindicates possible solutions to the identified problems,
including suggestions to freshmen on how to decrease their stress.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF FIGURES

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1. Introduction
1.1.
Rationale

Nowadays, stress is common among college students. Specifically, freshmen were found
to have higher academic stress levels than sophomores, juniors and seniors (Misra,
McKean,West, and Russo (2000). Probable causes weresignificant changes from
adolescence to adulthood, the newly matriculated students encountering problems such as
the lack of rigid school regulations, a new living style, professor and classroom
environment, and grade competition, among other factors.
Studentstress has been associated with a variety of negative outcomes, including effects
on general and health-related quality of life (Damush, Hays, & DiMatteo, 1997). Being
stressed every day leads to decline in study and workperformance, so it is necessary for
freshmen to learnhow to adjust to their new environment. If they cannot, they will lose
their enthusiasm for learning and they will not be as successful in their academic and
personallife.
Concern about the outcome for these students motivated this researcher to select “Stress

of Dalat University English major freshmen” as a research topic, aimed atexplaining the
primary sourcesof their stress. From there, the researcher hopes toprovide suggestions to
help correctthis complicated issue.
1.2.

Aims of the research.

When students are stressed, they experience worry and fatigue. When exhausted, their
lifestyle can change, which may then result in illness.
First, the research is carried out to ascertain the reasons why freshmen are stressed.
Significant causes to be examined are study habits, new living styles, classroom
environment, and balancing relationships.
Second, the research is to determinehow strongly stress influences freshmen study
abilities.From the research, the researcher will extract the special effects of stress that
affect freshmen health.
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Finally, the researcher will propose solutions to the identified problems and make
recommendations, such asspecialized orientation for freshmen before they start their new
life at Dalat University.
1.3.

Research questions

The research questions for this study are as follows:
1. What are the main reasons and the effects of stress on freshmen?
2. How can stressed students overcome stress?
1.4.
Scope of studies

Due to the limitation of time, and the insufficiency in the number of researchers, the
research cannot cover all students and was only carried out in 80 students from 4 classes.
The focus of this research are freshmen K38 majoring in English. Moreover, the number
of males in the faculty of foreign languages is less than the number of females, and may
lead to insufficient information on male students’ stressors. The data focuses on factors
that cause students to feel stressed when adapting to a new environment.
1.5.

The significance of the research

This research is significant for freshmen of the Faculty of Foreign Languages. When
provided with knowledge on why students get stressed, it is hoped that they will have the
ability toprepare for and manage difficult situations that they willencounter at Dalat
University.
Freshmen can be like “fish out of water” when learning to cope with a new environment.
The teachers and the Student Union of the Faculty of Foreign Languages will be available
to help them in this process.
In addition, the result of this research will provide information for them to find effective
solutions to improve their study methods, health, and relationships around them.
Therefore, this study willbe useful for all students, especially the freshmen,to learn stress
reductionskillsbefore they first arrive to study in this University.

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2. Literature review
2.1.
Introduction

This part presents an overview of the research related to the reasons freshmen become
stressed, the basic theory underlying the rationale for this study. Many technical terms and
concepts used in this section are also used in the following sections.
2.2.

Definition

In general, there have many definition of stress and it hasn’t been defined similarly. For
example, according to Jones (2001) defined stress as “ a source of negative conditions
experienced by people of all ages from a variety of cultures ”. Another definition of stress,

Lazarus and Folkman (1986), defined as “ stress is considered to be a physiological reaction of
an organism where diverse defense mechanisms come into play in order to confront a situation
which is perceived as threatening or of increased demand ”.As Wikipedia indicates that stress

also is “a negative condition or a positive condition that can have an impact on a
person's mental and physical well-being” (Wikipedia (a), 2013).College students often

become stresses in their lives. From being away from home, to dealing with new
relationships, feeling the pressure of obtaining high grades, even having a job, students
find themselves stressed very easily. According to WebMD.com, “ stress is a symptom that
makes hormones speed up your heart, makes you breathe faster, and gives you a burst of energy”.

The National Institute of Mental Health reported:
There are at least three different types of stress, according to the National Institute of
Mental Health. First, there is routine stress, which is related to the pressure of daily
responsibilities, including work, school and family. The next type of stress is brought on
by a sudden negative change, such as illness, losing a job, or the drastic change or end
to a relationship. The third type is traumatic stress, which happens when a person is in
danger of some sort, for example, a major accident or a natural disaster.

(The National Institute of Mental Health, n.d)
2.3.

Review of related research on causes of freshmen stress

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My research focuses on stressors of freshmen in Dalat University. The research’s subject
is English major freshmen who began their studies at the University of Dalat in 2014.
Previous research related to my research as follows.
Kohn and Frazer (1986); Ross et al (1999) and Archer, Lamnin (1985) carried out a study
of the reasons for freshmen stress. This research found that “freshmen frequently reported
their significant academic stressors to be excessive workload, exams, grades, and
professor characteristics”. One of the reasons students feel stressed is that they have many
exams every month and their lectures gave them unclear course objective or equivocal
assignments. Moreover, they feel pressure to obtain high grades.
Dyson & Renk (2006) analyzed that freshmen perceive neither themselves to be
adolescents nor adults. Therefore, freshmen are very susceptible and in an unfamiliar
environment, they need the sense of protection and support from the locals. In particular,
ethnics and students who come from other places are more vulnerable than the locals
because they have to deal with establishing new relationships and a new living style.
2.4.

Review of related researches on effects of freshmen stress

The report from the Fall 2010 was revealing in terms of trends inhealth and stressors.
Students' perception of their own mental health has been on a steady decline. In 2010,
males and females' perception of their own emotional health hit the lowest marks in

twenty five years, decreasing approximately 13% for both males and females from 2009
to 2010.(The American Freshman National Norms, n.d). Because of stress, freshmen
encounter depression, absent-mindedness, and more hassles.
In addition, Lazarus and Folkman (1984) claimed that each individual perceives and
copes with stress in different ways. Freshmenstress depends on whether an event is
appraised as a challenge or a threat. Challenging stimulus can lead to positive outcomes
such as motivation and improved task performance, while threatening ones or distress can
result in anxiety, depression, social dysfunction and even suicidal intention. Therefore,
when students feel stressed, they have to deal with mental instability and are unable to
focus on their studies in their new environment.
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3. Methodology
3.1.
Subject

For this study, the respondents of the research are AVK38 students. Participants are
recruited from AVK38A, AVK38B, AVK38C and AVK38D.We chose 20 students from
each of above classes. They range from 18 to 26 year old, with the average age of 19.
Females dominate:67 students(83,75%), vs. male participants:13 students(16,25%).
Regarding ethnicity, 55 students are Kinh(68,75%), and 25 students( 31,25% ) are from
ethnic minority groups.
Ethnic minority groups come from several of places such as Dalak(5%), Daknong(7%),
Dilinh(8%), Don Duong(5%), Duc Trong(2%), and Lac Duong(3,25%).
The results are very encouraging.

Data collected about the freshmen is varied and

informative.

The reason for this selection is to find out what reasons make studentsbecome stressed
and whether female students are stressed more than male students.
3.2.

Data collection instrument

14 questionnaires were distributed randomly to 80 students, and all questionnaires were
returned on time. The questions were designed to be explicit, coherent, and bilingual for
the accurate comprehension of the freshmen.
This questionnaire consists of 14 questions, arranged in a logical format. The questions
are clear, simple, and easy to understand so that the students can feel comfortable
answering the questions. The reliability and validity were determined through the content
and the order of questionnaires. The questionnaires can be found in Appendix 1 and
Appendix 2.
In particular, the questionnaires contain two parts. The first part is students’ personal
details in which the respondents are asked to provide more personal information such as
name, grade, ethnic, gender, age. The second part is the 14-item questionnaires to answer
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in detail about the reasons for stress and the difficult situations that the freshmen
encounter at Dalat University. Question 1 was asked to find out how often freshmen
become stressed when they begin their studies at Dalat University.

To verify the

reliability of the timetable, questions8asked if students can keep up with frequently
changing timetablesand whether the curriculum is suitable for them or not.Question 3 was
asked to determine the extent that freshmen adapt to the local lifestyle. Questions 4 and 9
were asked to find out their solutions to rid themselves of their stress. Questions 2, 11 and

14 were asked to identify whether stress influences students’ health. The rest of the
questions were created to determineother reasons that make students feel stress, such as
friend, family, and work-load. Question 6 was created to examine the relationship
between freshmen and their classmates. Questions 12 are also created to verify the
reliability of the freshmen family relationship.Especially, questions 5, 7 and 13 were
created to indicate whether workload makes students get stressed or not, and to make
suggestions for decreasing the freshmen stress in Dalat University.
3.3.

Data analysis procedures

First, I used quantitative and qualitative method to analysis the answers in questionnaire.
Second, to avoid false answers,freshmen also were indicated that their answers would be
confidential and their information was genuinely important to this research. Moreover, the
researchers made sure that the survey would take more than 5 minutes to complete for
each questionnaire.
Last, the topic and outline were approved by the instructor of this researcher. Afterwards,
the questionnaires for freshmen were completed, and all data collected were aggregated
and analyzed in Microsoft Excel.

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4. Findings and discussions
4.1. Reasons make freshmen be under stress
4.1.1. Balancing relationships
4.1.1.1 Friend
Dalat city is a place that is famous for temperate climate and friendly people. Attending
university in 4 years is completely different from traveling for relaxation, so making
friends is a challenge that many students have to face at the first time they come to Dalat

University.
The data for this part of the research is collected from question 6 asking: “Do you often
quarrel with your classmate?” (Often/ Sometimes/ Rarely/ Never)”

Chart 1.Quarrelling with freshmen classmates
Chart 1 illustrates the percentage of the extent of confrontation between freshmen and
their classmates in Dalat University. The result shows that most of freshmen cannot get
along with their classmates because of reasons such as cultural diversity andlifestyle. In
regarding to level of disagreements between respondents, 37,5%

of respondents(30

students) showed that they often quarreled with their classmate, and 52,5% of them( 42
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students) said that they sometimes argued with their classmate. 22,7% of freshmen( 18
students) rarely argue with their classmates.Of note, 15% of students (13 students) are
ethnic minority, so it is difficult to maintain a good relationship with their classmates
because of their lifestyle and cultural differences.Also, 50% of freshmen (40 students)
from other places said that making new friends is extremely difficult for them. The rest of
students who are local said that they too land in embarrassing situations when they try to
make friends with their classmates. In general, when asked about making new friends,
most freshmen found ithard to strike up a friendship with a person that they metonly a few
times.
4.1.1.2. Family
Almost a quarter of respondents (83,75% of students) felt shocked when they began to
live far away from their family according to the result collected in question 10 of the
questionnaire (the question is “Do you feel shocked when you live far away from your
family?”, with two options“Yes” and “No”). The rest (16,25% of students) did not feel

shocked because they are Dalat local.In the question 13 (“To what extent do you get along
well with your family?, with four options “ Very good”, “ Good”, “ Acceptable”, “
Terrible”)shows the extent of getting along well with freshmen’s family.In terms of
question, 13,75% of freshmen (11 students) get along well with their family, 40 % of
freshmen( 32 students) felt comfortable, 26,25% of freshmen (21 students) felt it was
acceptable, and the rest felt terrible when they reunited with their families. It is presented
clearly in chart 2.

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Chart 2.The percentage of freshmen gets along well with their family.
In general, students feel relaxed and pleasant when they are at home with their family.
Most of them don’t want to leave far away from their hometown, but as can be seen from
the chart, only 18 students out of 80 realized that they felt stressed when they stay at
home. Moreover, basing on the interview, they expressed they would like to come to
Dalat for pure air, friendly local people, and interesting beautiful views.In summary,
family contributes considerably to freshmen stress.
4.1.2. Study
4.1.2.1. Study method
In the university environment, students should prepare for their lessons before they come
to the class. When freshmen enter their college, they cannot depend on their professors
to teach like their teachers did in high school.

Lecturers often give them general

knowledge and the methods to absorb new information, so theymust learn how to study
independently.
To survey whether new methods of learning in Dalat University make freshmen undergo
stress or not, we begin with question 13asking, “Do you prepare yourlesson before you go

to school?”.Chart 3 presents that most of them do not prepare for their lessons before
coming to class. The number of people saying “Yes” is 20 students (25%), and the rest say
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“ No”.75% of students (60 students) don’t prepare their lessons at home. Through
fascinating statistics above, autonomous study is evidently a big problem for freshmen.
This is probably the reason freshmencannot keep up in their new study environment.

Chart 3.Preparation of freshmen’s lesson.
4.1.2.2.Curriculum
Many freshmen cannot keep up with the curriculum in Dalat University. According to
question 9 in the questionnaire, the smallest percentage of the attitude of freshmen about
the curriculum in Dalat University is “extremely suitable”, which is 6,25%; follow that is
“suitable”, which accounted for 21,25% and “quite suitable” is 31,25%. Finally,

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thepercentage of freshmen who think the curriculum is “unsuitable” is41,25%.

Chart 4.Freshmen’s opinion about curriculum.
The result collected in Part B on the interview suggests that the students would like to
study in the library of Dalat University because of itspeaceful atmosphere, but because it
closes very early (at 5:30 pm), the students go home without studying. Also, there are
students who don’t want to study at their dormitory or their house for reasons such as
noise, disturbances, and living conditions. Although their curriculum becomes more and
more complex, and the student is requiredto spend a lot of time to learn, it is hard for
them to study because of the lack of a suitable study environment.
In summary, the curriculum is a considerable challenge for freshmen in Dalat University.

4.1.3 Workload
It’s certain that studying is the mostimportant thing of students’ life, but if they study too
much, they will also be under stress. According to the data in question 5 (Does workload
put you understress?).Most of students think workload put them under stress, which made
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up 75% (60 students). The percentage of students who thinks workload doesn’t put them
under stress constitutes 25% (20 students).
In Part C on the interview, the researcher asked 10 freshmen whether they feel stressed or
not before their exams, and why. All of them said” Yes”.

They feel mystified by

theirhard-to-understandlessons. Their professors had given them so many tests and
exercises thatthere are too many things to study. They don’t haveenough time. They don’t
know what to do first, or what they should do next.
In addition, to survey whether workload causes stress for freshmen or not, the researcher
them question number 7 with the content “What put you under stress?”, with four options
“ Family”, “ friend”, “ workload”, “ others”. 13,75% of respondents( 11 students) chose
“family”, 26,25% of respondents( 21 students) chose “ friends”, 41, 25% of
respondents( 33 students) chose “ workload”, and the rest chose “ others”. English major
freshmen said that they are extremely tired because of their workload, it is unpleasant to
study difficult subjects, and they always feel that they are not as proficient as other
classmates. So, workload is the main reason that causes student stress.

Chart 5.Reasons put freshmen under stress
The results collected in part C of the interview indicated that almost a quarter of
respondents (70% of students) cannot understand when their professor speaks English, so
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students cannotabsorb the knowledge the teacher is instructing. This is another reason
they cannot adapt to their new educational environment.
In short, the reason why freshmen students feel stressed in Dalat University is that the
lecturers assign them a heavy workload and they run into difficultyprioritizingwhat they
should do. Because the professor’s instructions are hard to understand, they cannot
complete all the tasks.
4.1.4 Lifestyle
The question in part D of the interview suggests the following result. First of all,
freshmen will have difficulty in communicating with Dalat people because of different
communication styles and their dialects.Students coming from the other places and Dalat
students have difficulty understanding each other, so new students often avoid contact
with Dalat local. It’s not just a problem of freshmen who come from the middle of
Vietnam such as Nghe an, Ha Tinh, Hue and so on. In a total of 10 respondents, there are
3 students who come from the middle of Vietnam.
Therefore, coming to this new area, freshmen should be taught how to prepare to live in
Dalat city and how to keep up with the new lifestyle in this new land. Data collected on
the survey shows that 18,75% of respondents( 15 students) chose “ quite good”, 25% of
respondents( 29 students) chose “ Good”, 43,75% of respondents ( 35 students) chose “
Acceptable”, and 12,5% of respondents( 10 students) chose “ Terrible” to live in Dalat
city.

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Chart 6.Student’s adaption to the local lifestyle
It’s certain that Dalat local people are very friendly and helpful. Sometimes, students feel
terrible when start to live in Dalat city when they have negative thoughts. Difficulty in
adapting to a new surrounding is one of the basic factors that they have to face. The

number of students suffering from a terrible local living style is limited, so most freshmen
are able to manage to adjust living in a new environment.
In summary, living style is not a considerable difficulty for freshmen.
4.2 Effects ofstress on freshmen.
4.2.1. Negative effects of stress
4.2.1.1 Common effects of stress on freshmen mood
According to Damush, Hays, & DiMatteo (1997) claimed that stress affects general health
quality of freshmen life and it is important to identify stressful factors their successful
development.
This graph illustrates the percentage of different types of effects of stress on freshmen
mood that freshmen suffer.

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Chart 7.Symptoms of stress influence on freshmen’s mood.
The data collected from the survey shows that 18,75% of freshmen (15students) feel
anxious, 25% of the percentage of freshmen (20 Students) becomerestless,
freshmenwho lack motivation or focus account for 8,75% (7 students). The
numberof freshmen who feel angry and irritable is 14% (38 students) when they
become stressed. The rest falls into sadness or depression.
Because they are busy studying, students have less time to talk to their friends and family,
andcannot share their feelings when they are in trouble. They feel sad and anxious, and
they may become depressed easily. Education is important, but they should not let it
reverse their lives.
4.2.1.2Common effects of stress on freshmen’s body
According to WebMD.com, when students are stressed, their body responds as if they are
in danger, and it makes hormones that speed up their heart, make them breathe faster, and
give them a burst of energy.
Responsibilities, such as striving for high grades, excessive homework, and keeping

contact with their families and friend have students finding themselves stressed very
easily. Freshmen who live far away from home are easily prone to stress, due to the
transitional nature of their life. They must adjust to being away from home for the first
time, maintain a high level of academic achievement, and adjust to a new social
environment. It can lead to loneliness, changes in sleeping and eating habits, and perhaps
poor digestion.
The question in part E of the interview, 3 students among 10 students showed that severe
stress may even harm student’s tresses if they pull out the hair from their own scalps. In
addition, 5 students among 10 students said that stress influences their digestion, with
symptoms ofheartburn, stomach cramping, and diarrhea. The rest said that stress can set
off an acute attack of back pain as well as contribute to other chronic pains.

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Students who are prone to anxiety and negative thinking are more likely to develop back
pain than the others.
4.2.1.3Common effects of stress on freshmen behavior.
Indeed, stress symptoms can affect a freshmen’s body, their thoughts and feelings, and
especially their behavior. When freshmen become stressed, they tend to do things to
release themselves from anxiety and stress. From the reasons above, stress can contribute
to health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

Chart 8.Symptoms of stress influence on freshmen’s behavior.
As can be seen from the chart 10,freshmen behaviors show“overeating or under eating”,
which made up 26,25% (21students).37,5% of freshmen (30 students) with “
angeroutbursts, 13,75% of freshmen (11 students) fall into “ drug or alcohol abuse”,
6,25% of freshmen ( 5 students) use tobacco, and 16,25% of freshmen ( 13 students)
withdraw socially when stressed.
Stressed students feel very tired and are physically as well as mentally exhausted after a

busy day in school. They may just want to stay at home, talk to themselves, and avoid
interacting with others.
To sum up, stress symptoms may be affecting freshmen health, even though the individual
might not realize it. They may think that they thinkthat their headache, stomachache or
pain and tense muscles are caused by weather or food, but stress may actually be the
culprit. Stress is very dangerous, it will influence on freshmen health seriously if they
don’t relieve their stress.
4.2.2 Positive effects of stress
According to Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, author of Real Cause, Real Cure (Rodale Books,
2012) who studied the effects of stress on immune function writes that stress in small
doses can improve cognitive function and improve our overall health.
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Besides negative effects of stress, there are benefits of stress that affect everyone in
different ways.
First, stress can motivate students to reach their goals. In addition, stress can boost
students’ memory and help them finish their tasks more efficiently. For example, worrying
about students’ performances when they have to make a presentation, or their deadlines
for the essays make them have to brainstorm, so they try to do it as soon as possible.
Therefore, stress trains students to work under pressure.
Second, according to experts, individuals who experienced moderate levels of stress
before the examination were able to do tests better than individuals who had low or high
level of stress.
According to part E of the interview, 75% of freshmen (60 students) said that moderate
levels of stress motivate them to study hard.If there aren’t any tests in the class, how can
they show their abilities in front of their classmates? And if there aren’t any important
examinations, they will not try as hard.
25% of freshmen(20 students) expressed that strong levels of stress have detrimental
effects on their health.In particular, too much stress makes their hearts beat harder, and

they cannot control their thoughts, so it is difficult to get high marks in their
examinations.
Third, stress is a useful way for freshmen to deal with the difficulties and challenges that
happen around them. It presents opportunities for students to learn and grow, and when
they become familiar with stress, they really can be easier, healthier and more effective
when they have confidence facing difficult problems.
In short, based on the three significant reasons above, a little stress will provide
motivation to study well.
4.3 The ways students overcome stress.
The data for this part of the research is collected from question 1 asking: “Do you often
get stressed?” (Often/ sometimes/ rarely/ never)
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Most freshmen feel stress in Dalat University. According to question 1 in the
questionnaire, the biggest percentage of freshmen that often get stressed is 50% (40
students); followed by “sometimes”, which accounted for 25% ( 20 students)

and

“rarely” is 15% (12 students), and the percentage of freshmen that never get stressed is
10% ( 8 students). In the research, 83,75% are female students( 67 students) and 16,25%
are male students ( 13 students). Male students tend to spend more time on activities that
relieve stress, like exercise and sports, while women tend to take on more responsibilities
such as volunteer work, helping out with their family or taking part in some competitions
that don't relieve stress. Female psychology is more than complicated than male, and they
run into difficulties with making friends.
Because of reasons that the researcher showed above, most of students are under stress
the first time they come to study in Dalat University. Based on the difficulties, the
researcher wants to find ways that help students overcome stress.

Chart 9.The ways students get rid of stress.
In the collected data, 21,25% of students ( 17 students) will hang out when they are under
stress, 23,75% of students ( 19 students) will restore their energy when they get stressed,
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47,5% of students ( 32 students) will enjoy their music, but in this part, there are 10
untruthful answers in comparison to the data in question 5. Thus, 22 students enjoy their
music to get rid of stress. The rest of student( 12 students) have other ways to get rid of
stress such as managing themselves, avoid poisoning their body and so on.
4.3.1. Exercise student’s body.
One of the ways to prevent from stress is exercise. In the part F of the interview, students
said: “exercise can help control stress and keep belly fat under control, so whenever I get
stressed, I often run or walk around Xuan Huong lake, it make me feel better.” Indeed,
exercise also releases endorphins, which have been shown to improve students’ mood,
making it a great way to deal with stress! Move their body every day!
In combination with the interview, some students said that leisure activities are otherwise
known as recreational activities. For instance, they can hang out with their friends and
make funny things because when they do things that bring them joy, they are re-creating
their spirit. Nurturing their spirit is a great way to help them reduce stress.
In short, doing exercise is one of the best way help student get rid of stress.
4.3.2. Restore student’s energy.
It’s certain that taking break is very important to students. When student spend a lot of
time on doing exercise orbeing responsible for their own study schedule, they should take
a rest or take naps if they feeltired or sleepy. It’s also important to get sufficient sleep.
Most people need at least seven hours each night. Good sleep habits include having a set
bed time and a set waking time. Moreover, if students don’t get the amount of sleep they
need, they can be off by as much as 50% the next day, so going to bed on time helps
students stay away from stress.

In the part F of the interview, Nguyen Anh Khoa, freshmen of Faculty of Foreign
Languages said: “Whenever I'm super stressed I often go to my comfortable bed, it held
me restore my energy after a long day”.

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