Patterson Courtyard Speech

2106 Words9 Pages

Kody Braun
Sean Corbin
WRD 110
9-11-2015
The Patterson Courtyard It’s Tuesday morning. I’ve just gotten off of the route 14 bus from k-lot at “The Steps.” They aren’t the only steps on campus, I think to myself, so why are they The Steps? I ask myself that question almost every day as I ascend them and walk towards my first class of the day. I stop in-front of the tallest building on campus, probably also the most well-known building on campus, Patterson Office Tower.
The building itself is rather plain to look it. Its most notable feature is its height. I know that twelve stories up is the English department offices. I know that many students before me looked at this building and they felt something. This building and others like it are …show more content…

They don’t hide the anxiety and stress that plagues them. For myself and a few of my friends we seem to be more surprised when someone doesn’t share our stress. Rightfully so with the rapid increase in student anxiety and depressive disorders. According to a study done by Michigan University that was published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry The estimated prevalence of any depressive or anxiety disorder was 15.6% for undergraduates and 13.0% for graduate students (Arbor 534). That means that fourteen or fifteen out of every one hundred students I meet shares my anxiety or my depression. The large number of students having anxiety disorders has caused a 231% increase in counseling visits (Beiter, et al). I believe that my anxiety is heavily liked to classes.
For example my anxiety acts up worst the day before I have French class, or the day before a test (the day before a French test is almost unbearable). This is because anxiety itself is the dread we feel, typically about something that hasn’t happened yet. My anxiety worsens whenever class is about to begin because I worry about if I have prepared myself enough or if I am going to make a fool of …show more content…

I don’t want to fail and have to take the class over again or take an extra semester of classes because I didn’t pass one with a high enough proficiency to move on. I also have second thoughts about being here at all. Many people are gaining college educations and are unable to find work after graduation. This leaves them jobless and in major debt. This is a contributing factor to the growing number of graduates who move in with their parents again after they