CCS: The College of Computers and Stress

Being a college student is not easy. The lessons breeze by. There are a ton papers and activities and projects to accomplish. It is no wonder that college students are often stressed out, no doubt due to the amount of work a course requires. The College of Computer Studies (CCS) of De La Salle University (DLSU) houses some of the most stressed-out students of the University. CCS students gain a tremendous amount of stress as a cause of the program’s big workload.

The basics of CCS require a student to be acquainted with programming languages, with C and Java being the basics. However, the unfamiliarity of students to a new programming language leads one to stress. A new kind of syntax and lexicon different from normal language baffles most students. Students are introduced to Command Prompt syntax and commands, coding schemes and conventions, and new operator symbols such as the not-equal (!=) and the or (||), among many others. All the “printfs” and for-loops and operator hierarchies look like an ancient language to a beginning programmer. This unfamiliarity poses another problem: completing the Machine Project.

The Machine Project (MP) is a programming course requirement. The MP is usually about 30% of course’s final grade. Having to complete the MP in a short amount of time contributes to a CCS student’s stress. Applying a new programming language to meet certain MP requirements is not easy; especially when a certain topic needed for MP implementation was not discussed fully or was not discussed at all. In addition, one would need to formulate his or her algorithm and code to accomplish the MP. Therefore, the MP makes students lose sleep for formulating algorithms, researching ways to implement and trying to encode the MP. CCS students end up being sleepy, lethargic, exhausted, cranky and dull. Aside from the MP, CCS students, as with most college students, have examinations.

Studying for a midterm exam, departmental exam (depex), or final exam can be another struggle, especially when there are a multitude of tasks to accomplish. Aside from major CCS courses, there are also floating courses that administer tests. These tests come in different forms. Most programming tests are composed of a multiple choice part, a code debugging part and a programming part. Most students have no trouble in the multiple choice tests. Students usually falter in the debugging or programming portion. Debugging poses a lot of problems since the errors in a given code segment are very subtle; they are hard to spot. Carelessness could cause a student to lose a few points. Programming tests are usually the hardest. One would need to write his or her code (as opposed to typing) and trace it manually since a compiler is not allowed. With the different of a programming test, much studying is required to avoid committing mistakes. But then again, how can one find ample time to study with all the things he or she has to do?

Stress is an unavoidable part of a college student’s life, especially if that student is a part of CCS. Being a CCS student requires one to be able to cope with the stress of CCS. One would need proper time management and discipline to succeed in CCS. A typical CCS student would know that to pass, he or she would have to lose a great number of hours of sleep. To help cope with programming, it is recommended to do some advance studying to lessen the stress of learning a new language. If one can manage his or time and priorities effectively, one’s amount of stress can be lessened greatly.