Who Are You When Stress Hits?

Ever felt like you were being stretched too thin during Finals week? Ever noticed how somebody's personality seems to change 180% the minute they're exposed to some pressure?

Here are a couple of personalities people tend to take on in times of stress. Spot similarities amongst your friends, family members, or even yourself. Enjoy!

1. The Saiyan Last-Minute Mugger

"Caffeine"? "Redbull"? "Brain-booster Pills"?

Chances are these people have already adopted such terms in as their legitimate spouses. 

Their empty tutorials are filled up in the span of the day. All and any papers available to man have been downloaded and were already completed during the time it took you to blink.

The best thing you can do for such people is to offer them a brief show of support and then get the hell out of their way. 

Don't bother them when they're reading up, don't bother them when they're caught staring at the wall and don't, absolutely don't, tell them to chill out. Ever. 'Cause their lives genuinely depend on this, and yours does too.

Signs that you happen to be one:

- More caffeine has been consumed over past few days than you would have consumed throughout the entire term.

- Your attendance for the last week of school indicates a dramatic shift in your social habits (in a good way)

- Your teacher actually commands some of your respect now. Who knew it wasn't all just hot air she was spouting?

- You never quite know what to study because you weren't paying attention when the required chapters were stated.

- You hate yourself for losing out on any helpful tips back when you weren't on Super Saiyan mode. Goddamn it, extra work for you.

- Your smarter classmates are your new best friends. You might even assign their numbers to speed dial for the time being.

- Sleep has suddenly become a foreign concept to you. On the other hand, HM120 Panda Eyes was obtained!

2. The Mugger That Always Was

     Mugging

Other than the multiple existing meanings of this word, it can also be used to describe someone stuffing a great deal of information from the textbook into his head, meaning tons of mere studying for long periods of time. This word is very common in countries like Singapore.

Related words are 'mugger' and 'mug', meaning 'someone who studies a ton/a very hardworking person' and 'studying' respectively.

Stop mugging or i'll ignore you! 

These people could have always mugged loud and proud, but chances are that they've always studied in the dark of the night, far away from any prying eyes that might judge them for being too smart. 

They also happen to be the ones that usually reply every stupid question with "oh man, I don't know the answer to that either".

They have every tutorial answer and 'fill-in-the-blanks' answer known to man. They have their teacher's personal number under their contact list and usually go AWOL a week prior to the big exam.

The best way to deal with such people is to avoid talking about studies with them at all times. 

Acting like you've got it all down pat will freak them out and turn them into Extreme Muggers. Acting stupider than they are will only serve to annoy them greatly.

Extra Note: Such friends are extremely useful if you belong to the first category. Don't ask for too much though, or you'll catch them side-stepping you the second the next semester begins. 

Signs that you happen to be one:

- You feel the urge to study more chapters than required 'just in case'

- Your textbook is worn-out (or wrapped up extremely, extremely neatly).

- "Friends? Sleep? What are those? Can they get me good grades?" plays on a loop in your head a bulk of the time. Not all the time, though. Thank god.

- Your textbook is so well-decorated (with highlighter ink) that you could probably get it put up in your local museum. And your mum told you you'd fail art class. Hah.

- "So-and-so has probably prepared a lot more than I have. Time to hit my notes for the fifteenth time today" has crossed your mind at least, well, 15 times.

3. Everybody's supporter

Feeling down? Raging on social media? Looking down at school?

This is the friend that will always have your back. It's almost like they never run out of positive energy to give you. Sure, they might not always reply you immediately, but you know that they'll be there when you need them the most.

Appreciate their random texts or love notes. Respond by putting aside whatever angst you might have to offer them your own support. These people are too rare and too precious to be lost.

Note: If you happen to be one yourself - remember not to stretch yourself too thin! We love you and we'd hate it even more if you wore yourself out! But be there for us. At all times.

Signs that you might be one:

- You reply almost every sad tweet or facebook status with words of concern. Words cost you nothing, after all.

- You're never too far from your whatsapp, or kik, or whatever you use to spread the love out there.

- You always appear calm. You might break down sometimes, far away from where they might see you, but your needs always seem less pressing than the ones of the people around you.

4.  Hakuna Matata

What is stress? 

These people walk on the bright side of life. Chances are, they come in late for almost every class and have little to zilch to contribute during every class discussion. Yet they never seem to worry about a thing.

They leave the test area half-an-hour before the scheduled time. Their instagram accounts are one of the more active ones (or they don't bother with social media at all). They'd probably be voted as the most laid-back people in class hands-down (until they're made to repeat a small handful of modules).

It's always fun chilling with them, but don't be too influenced. Recreation is important, but so is passing your modules (at least).

Signs you might be one:

- You wouldn't actually attend any classes at all if some attendance wasn't compulsory

- You'd easily miss a 'epic tips' exam session put up by your module head for a day out with the guys/girls

- It doesn't bother you in the slightest that all your notes or tutorials are blank. You'll copy somebody else's work someday. One day.

- You only contribute to group projects because your friends are depending on you, not because you actually want to do well.

5. Phantom Stress (on social media but actually fine)

Come exam period, this small handful of people can be found on social media at all times of the day. Raging, cursing, whining their heads off. It isn't pretty, but it's a lot better than what'd they do if they had to share their woes with you in person.

But then again, if you did happen to walk by them on the street, you'd only find yourself looking at a really unflattering picture of a moody teenager bent over their phone, Venti Frappe in hand, enjoying the light breeze as their favorite drama OST plays in the background.

Don't be fooled. Play a sympathetic ear (because you're just that good of a person), but don't bother getting your knickers in a knot. All those heavily filtered instagram pics of emo quotes are really not any business of yours.

Signs that you happen to be one:

- You feel the insatiable need to report every emotional swing you have to everybody on your feed

- You'd feel genuinely sucky if you don't get to tell somebody else how much work you'd done that day

- You see other people's depressed statuses and think "Hah, they're nowhere near to my level of pain and suffering".

6. Stress junkie

These people can be the biggest complainers when they're faced with stress, but they also happen to be the biggest complainers even when they're not.

They basically have a lot they want to do besides studying during the exam period. Examples include writing a novel, going for plays, exquisite fine-dining events, important internships etcetera etcetera. 

Yet they also happen to be the ones bumming about the minute the exam periods pass on by.

In other words, these people just hate stress in general. Yet when it's not there, they miss it. Go figure.

Signs that you happen to be one:

- You find yourself planning extravagant bucket lists to be completed during the holidays, but then you stick them on your wall and never touch them 'til the end of the next term, when your next exam period rears its head.

- The 'stress period' seems long to you as it is ongoing, but then too short the minute you're done with the last paper. What are you going to do with your life now?

7.- Donald Trump (might not necessarily like it, but productivity is suddenly sky high)

These people might not like stress a lot, but whatever the case may be, their productivity immediately rockets sky high the minute they're exposed to it.

PS: If you're unaware, this isn't Donald Trump. But Donald Trump is known for his role on "The Apprentice"

Book reports, tutorials, test papers - leave it all to these guys. You'll get them done by the morning. Really, they'll get anything done. You might think it impossible, but then again- you've never seen these busy ants once they're under some pressure. Moses has got nothing on these guys,

Don't pin too much hope on them when they aren't under stress though. Things can still end well, but chances are that they'd fail to surpass all and any expectations.

Signs that you happen to be one:

- Stress is your friend. You hate to admit it, but you need the sucker in your life.

- Imaginary datelines actually get you to work seriously. Like seriously, check-lists are your new best friend.

- You have an inane level of confidence in your own ability. This could make you a serious slacker right up to the point that the shoe drops.

8. The Crash Wreck (Absolute opposite of Donald Trump).

Human support probably needs to be called down to scrape these poor suckers off the floor.

Crashing, breaking down, sobbing in the street. You can try to be there for them, but don't get dragged down into their pit of death and despair. Remember kids, negativity kills you.

Signs that you might be one:

- You hyperventilate whenever anybody brings up anything related to the test whatsoever. "E.g. are calculators required for this test?"

- You crash under pressure. There's no nicer way to put it. Wipe those tears off before you start spurting blood.

- You start to worry that your friends might hate you. They probably don't yet, but things'd probably get there if this goes on too long.

Nothing's really totally accurate, of course. But there you go. I came up with the idea for this article sometime during my semestral tests and finally got around to doing it. Let me know what you think! I hope you've enjoyed this.

Share this if you love it. Thanks for your time!

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