Using responses collected from our shared measurement system, the SOAR Portal, Data Dive shares insights into the challenges faced by students with disabilities and offers resources to support them.
Putting the “I” in Resilience
September 2024
Stress comes in all shapes and sizes and can be affected by a variety of factors. Building resilience can help you navigate those challenges to improve academic performance, foster growth and enhance your well-being.
In September, the first month of the 24-25 academic year, we found that students experienced both success and challenges. Nearly half of student respondents (45.0%) felt they achieved academic success. However, many students felt challenged (41.1%) and overwhelmed (26.8%). The biggest challenge identified was managing stress and anxiety (24.3%).
While many of students are excelling academically, the difficulty of managing stress and anxiety highlights the need for effective strategies to bolster resilience by unlocking the power to navigate challenges with confidence.
Guiding Perceptions
“I [need] help on how to navigate through my procrastination issues so I’m not so stressed and overwhelmed all the time.”
“I have been so busy… sometimes feels like I’m pulled into twenty different directions. It’s been hard to manage and often overwhelming… The balance is the hardest part about school.”
Resilience is a dynamic skill that can strengthen your persistence and help manage stress through the ability to positively cope with, navigate and bounce back from life’s inevitable obstacles.
One learns, builds and enhances resilience by utilizing a multi-dimensional approach through cognitive, behavioral, motivational, existential, and emotional processes. For people with disabilities, resilience often manifests in the form of persistence as they develop strategies to navigate additional barriers in their everyday lives with determination, find new ways to solve problems, and push forward, even when the path is difficult.
Strategies for building academic resilience include social engagement, developing self-awareness, sustaining focus, and finding meaning and purpose. By adapting and employing these skills, along with cultivating a growth mindset, you can reframe setbacks as opportunities for growth, empowering you to face challenges with confidence.
Explore the following resources and tools to help manage stress and persist in your academic endeavors through building resilience!
Peer Advice
“Keep focusing on your goals and take time for yourself when needed so you don’t get overwhelmed.”
“Try to ensure that your most basic needs are met. Having good sleep, nutrition, and time set aside for leisure and hobbies can build a foundation for success!”
Write down lists of everything you have to get done and then go back through and rank them by importance. Then make a new list with all assignments/events in order of most important to least important.”
“Allow yourself permission to recognize when you have taken on too much.”
Student-to-Faculty Advice
“Talk to students, please. They do need help from faculty. You don’t know where students come from regarding their life situations. The students need your help with accessible support and needs.”
“Thank you for listening when I have a question or need advice. I have a very hard time managing my time and being a procrastinator no matter how much I work on changing that. My brain works differently that way and it overwhelms me a lot when I can’t time mange well and I have a lot of homework and assignments.”
Supporting Resources
- Learn more about Strategies for Building Resilience from Cornell University.
- Overcome procrastination, maintain motivation and achieve goals by managing daily and/or difficult tasks with Goblin Tools (especially helpful for neurodivergent people).
- Stay focused while doing something good for the planet with the Forest productivity app.
- Take control of your mental health & well-being with Happify.
- Resources offered at your campus can help you navigate personal and academic challenges.
- Maximize your personal and academic growth by utilizing your TAPDINTO-STEM mentors and community of peers.
Go to the Resources Home Page
