ASSESS YOUR STRESS
Like the Network, the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI) was designed for-students, by-students.
The original aim of the PSSI was to provide post-secondary institutions with a tool to better evaluate the sources of their students' stress in order to improve the tailoring of campus mental health supports.
Now, we've turned this tool around so that it is student-facing, with sources of student stress directly linked to related resources. Stressors are split into five domains: academics, learning environment, campus culture, interpersonal and personal stressors.
Like the Network, the Post-Secondary Student Stressors Index (PSSI) was designed for-students, by-students.
The original aim of the PSSI was to provide post-secondary institutions with a tool to better evaluate the sources of their students' stress in order to improve the tailoring of campus mental health supports.
Now, we've turned this tool around so that it is student-facing, with sources of student stress directly linked to related resources. Stressors are split into five domains: academics, learning environment, campus culture, interpersonal and personal stressors.
WRITING EXAMS
On this page, Concordia University Health Services breaks down signs and symptoms of exam stress, causes of exam stress, strategies that can help, and additional resources.
Student Minds provides a ton of resources for post-secondary students. On this page, you'll find five steps for managing exam-related stress, as well as an additional link to guidance around manage exams during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This 20-page workbook is available free from the University of Guelph and includes exam prep strategies and tips, stress management techniques, and self-care activities.
Most post-secondary campuses have Academic Success Services as a component of their overall Student Health/Wellness programming. We've compiled a list of all the Campus Academic Services at universities across Canada (soon to include colleges as well!)
The University of Waterloo breaks down the aspects of achieving success in university exams. This includes effective study methods, how to overcome test anxiety, how to improve your exam writing skills, and additional resources. MANAGING ACADEMIC WORKLOAD
On this page, TalkCampus provides tips for managing anxiety and stress related to coursework. We love that they emphasize that experiencing some stress in normal, and it's all about managing it.
Invensis Global Learning Services has compiled a list of time management resources, which you can find at this link. Click through to see what works best for you when it comes to time management.
Queen's University's Student Academic Success Services has created a short e-book outlining methods to work on your time management skills. You can also access the web version here.
This page by The Princeton Review goes over five effective tips on how to manage the stress of your work load. This includes adjusting your thinking and approach, such as learning how to study smarter and not harder, or benefiting from a changed behaviour, such as implementing a calming presence when working.
This article by The World University Rankings explores advice from the contributors on how to cope with the workload of academics, how to prioritize tasks, when to say no to opportunities, and more. MAINTAINING GRADES
This Princeton Review article provides a list of stress-free ways to achieve great grades. They also have an article with specific advice on how to bounce back from bad grades.
Collegexpress provides a breakdown of six steps for dealing with receiving a bad grade, outlining how to take a step back, reorganize, and prepare to improve next time. THESIS OR PRACTICUM WORK
The Thesis Whisperer is written by Professor Inger Mewburn, director of researcher development at The Australian National University. This site includes resources and workshops for thesis students, covering topics from the writing process, to the oral presentation component of a thesis project, to navigating a supervisory relationship.
Effective Thesis provides a variety of resources designed to help thesis students to further develop and refine their research skills, from reading papers, conducting analyses, and writing. |
COMMUNICATING WITH PROFESSORS
Lumen Learning has created a free, short course on communicating with instructors. They discuss the best techniques for successful communication, including when to approach them, the best communication techniques to use, some guidelines for communication, and why this is beneficial.
The University of San Francisco put together a list of ten practical and universally applicable suggestions on how to effectively communicate with your professors and achieve success. This includes how to conduct yourself, when are the best circumstances to reach out, how to talk to them, etc.
Keystone discusses helpful tips to help you create and maintain a good relationship with your professor. This includes how to approach them/communicate with them, things to keep in mind, as well as actions that should be taken. NAVIGATING SUPERVISOR RELATIONSHIPS
These guidelines from Brown University focus on mentor/mentee relationships for students pursing graduate studies (however, these guidelines could apply to any mentor/mentee relationship, including practicums and/or placements).
Although this comprehensive supervisory guidebook from the University of Alberta is written for faculty supervisors, its contents can also help students to understand what is expected from their supervisors.
One resource that can help students to start off on the right foot with their academic supervisor from the start is laying out a clear expectations document. We've linked here the Graduate Student/Supervisor Expectations Document from the University of British Columbia, which can be adapted as needed. Establishing these expectations at the beginning of a program can be helpful. |
ADJUSTING TO POST-SECONDARY
This brief e-book from the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, breaks down the six main areas of typical adjustment for students new to the post-secondary setting: academic, cultural, emotional, financial, intellectual, and social. This resource breaks down some tips to help smooth this transition.
Transitions is a validated resource guide for high school students making the transition to their first year of post-secondary education. The resource aims to prepare students for changes in their academics, health, personal lives, and community.
From Surviving to Thriving is a validated workbook designed to help post-secondary students develop and maintain personal and academic resiliency. The workbook invites students to consider their stressors as well as constructive solutions/coping methods, record a personal list of resources they can reach out to during times of distress (including social support networks and on/off campus health resources), and more.
This University of Waterloo resource discusses helpful skills and habits for succeeding in university. It touches upon how to gain and utilize these skills, as well as why they are beneficial. This includes skills to do with managing stress, creating effective goals, connecting with new friends, and more. ACADEMIC COMPETITION
This video workshop explores some of the reasons why one's academic confidence may go down in university. It then informs the listener on helpful tips that will help regain this confidence, through techniques such as setting SMART goals, time management, etc.
Although the level of academic competition in university can be intimidating, it is important to maintain confidence in yourself through implementing some of the tips that Affordable Colleges provides on building academic confidence. This resource includes advice on behaviour and mindset as well as cognitive techniques to increase your success in achieving academic confidence. DISCRIMINATION
This website provides an abundance of information on the many layers of racism, starting with providing educational articles on the background of racism, then going into how to plan for change, act on these plans, and evaluate change.
This organization works within the public sector to help guide and assist in resolving conflicts as well as problematic issues or concerns. They strive to encourage and contribute to positive change by improving fairness and transparency within organizations.
This website has a variety of resources for people within and people supporting the 2SLGBTQI community, including a wide range of topics such as adults supporting 2SLGBTQI youth, pronoun usage guides, transphobic violence in schools, etc. It also contains reliable information on legal advocacy, current research, awareness, and education within this topic.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association provides a list of resources related to discrimination on the basis of disability or mental health. This includes various organizations and guides within various sectors including national, provincial, workplace, education, etc. |
MANAGING RELATIONSHIPS
Created by students like you, for students like you, our Connections Toolkit, created for the Network, is designed to help students navigate all the types of the relationships they might encounter during university/college. This includes making new friends, maintaining old relationships, navigating your changing relationship with your parents, entering into romantic relationships (and understanding consent and toxicity), and more!
Joining a club is a great way to make new friends with people you share similar interests with! Check out the Network's clubs portal, which provides links to university and college club directories across Canada.
It can be difficult to know how to manage all of the aspects that come with being a post-secondary student, one of those being managing relationships. This document by The Student Readiness Inventory reviews how to create a balanced and enjoyable schedule and tips on balancing social life with your academics. LEARNING TO NETWORK
TopResume provides multiple informational articles on the various aspects of networking, such as how to digitally network, creating an elevator pitch, and more. This website also contains informational articles around other aspects of entering the work force, including personal branding and interviews. Although this resources is beneficial for all students, it is especially helpful to graduate students.
Forbes wrote an article providing eight helpful tips on how to network properly, mainly discussing how to approach networking and the best mindset to have through your journey. Comparing to Others
This page written by the American Psychological Association is a great resource to help people understand what imposter syndrome is, the effects it has one people, and techniques on how to conquer those feelings.
This Forbes article breaks down how to work on stoping comparing yourself to others through providing and discussing five pieces of advice on how to change your actions and mindset. This includes documenting your achievements, embracing the competition, and more. |
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MANAGING SELF-CARE
Better Living compiled a list of self-care resources which fall under many categories, such physical activity, art, meditation and emotional health, and more.
The University of Western Ontario's Wellness Education Centre created this self-care toolkit that goes through three main sections, which includes understanding self-care, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and creating a self-care plan.
MANAGING COMPETING DEMANDS
This Parade article provides ten goal-setting worksheets that will help to organize, manage, and prioritize the demands/goals in your life.
My Study Life is a free application that allows you to implement your calendar, class schedule, tasks, exams, and more in order to manage the varying aspects of academics and life.
FINANCIAL CONCERNS
This page by the Chartered Professional Accountants Canada provides a multitude of resources to help post-secondary students navigate their finances. This includes various kinds of informational resources, including podcast, webinars, tools and articles, as well as links to both federal and provincial support.
Scotia Bank provides six realistic actions that can be taken by students in order to help them gain control of their finances and ease some of the uncertainty and stress. Within these six sections, they also provide additional resources to help with this process.
This article by Very Well Mind revolves around financial stress, which includes understanding the stress, knowing it's potential impact on your health, tips for coping, and finally, overcoming financial stress.
CONCERNS ABOUT THE FUTURE
TopResume provides a diverse range of career advice articles that cover a range of topics, from building a resume, preparing for interviews, expanding your skill set, and more. Getting prepared and educating yourself on how to approach your next steps can help relieve the stress of questioning the future.
The Professor Is In is a company that works to help guide people through grad school, the job market, and academic careers. This advice comes in many forms, including articles, courses and webinars, workshops, etc.
Anticipatory anxiety can often occur in university students when thinking and worrying about the future. This article from Anxiety Canada covers what anticipatory anxiety is, what it is commonly triggered by, and lists strategies on how to help cope, including a few additional resources.
