As the end of the semester comes along, a lot of stress has piled up on college students at John Jay. Papers to give in, and finals to study for causes students to re-think their college degree.

According to a study from Harvard University students across America feel the need to drop out as a result of poor preparation, and outside demands to make time for.

Having 5 classes to give to work for, and midterms to study for occupies the student’s time.  This makes students feel depressed, as they are trying to do all their work and have a good time to de-stress. Students as a result of poor preparation make depression come along, wanting to give up on everything because they can’t deal with all their current problems.

Based on a study from Harvard three reasons college students drop out are because of the money concerns, poor preparation, and outside demands.Challenges or threats undermining mental and physical health causes stress.

“I have to go to work, and come home and start all my work. So I don’t have energy , which is why I have come to think to drop out of school is a better option,”stated Caridad Cano, 19.

The school is not always meant for everybody, but students struggle to get through every day in order to get their work done.

Late nights are spent procrastinating, and contemplating the importance of staying in college. It is the middle of the semester, professors assign more work, in order to complete their curriculum.

Poor preparation upon entering college makes students believe that taking a break from college is a better alternative so they can rethink their lives. Often students don’t come back as a result of lack of advising.

“I have friends who are currently planning on taking a break because they have family problems and the school workload interferes,” stated Michael Gonzalez, 18. “His struggle will pay off and he only has 2 years left.”

Gonzalez refers to his friend, as he is always trying to help him out so he doesn’t drop out or have a break. As a peer counselor, he motivates him throughout the school year. Peer counselors have the responsibility of being sympathetic to peers, and have respect towards what the person believes or does with advice involved.

Paying off college also gets in the way for students, as they are going to school full time and have to find a job full-time in order to pay off school. A year at John Jay College cost $6,510 which can be a high expense to students living on their own and having to pay rent and food and other amenities.

“ I live with my parents, but I still pay rent and food on top of school. Which is challenging working 5 days a week, because I go to school Monday and Wednesday and I get out at four by the time I get home it is around six,” stated Jeffrey Jimenez, 21. “Sometimes I have to study for test, and do my papers and homework, I fall asleep with my book open. Which leads me into rushing my work, and doing the homework before class”.

Having to work 7 days a week 5 at a restaurant, and 2 in school makes him tired that sometimes he falls asleep doing homework.

“Last semester I was just tired of going to school 4 days a week. And going to work right after that my attendance was so poor. I considered dropping out because I felt that with my attendance I would have failed anyway.” States Jimenez. “I was stressed out.”

Stress is a contributing factor to why many students drop out of college. Some aren’t prepared for the workload or are used to old habits. Family problems could also affect a student in a school environment, as they aren’t motivated to continue with school.

“Dropping out has come into mind, but I only have a year left at John Jay,” stated Rafael Rodriguez, 21. “I try to aim for A’s and B’s but as the semester goes by it is less achievable, because trying to sit down at 1a.m to finish papers to hand in the next morning is hard. Because you get tired of staring at a blank page for hours without a clue of what to write.”

Students face challenges getting schoolwork done for class the next day, as they are given work from various classes, as many students are full-time students. Being a full-time student involves 4 classes or more, and tests to study for which sometimes falls on the same day.

Being a full-time student at a college means having a motivation to battle daily challenges.