Wassup

It’s Just Stress, Right? A Case Study on the Endocrine System

by

Sheri L. Boyce Department of Biological Sciences, Messiah College, Grantham, PA

Part I – Frustration

Ellie dropped her backpack beside the chair in Dr. Kern’s office and sat down with a sigh. Her hands trembled as she glanced again at the graded exam in her hand. “It’s no better than the last one,” she mumbled. “I really, really tried this time, Dr. Kern. I did all the reading assignments before and again after class. I completed all of the study guide questions and rewrote my notes and made flash cards and studied with straight-A Cassie every week. But it didn’t make any difference. I still failed it.” She sniffled loudly and reached for the box of tissues on Dr. Kern’s desk. Dr. Kern sat back and thought for a moment while Ellie made use of several tissues. Ellie was a junior in Dr. Kern’s physiology course and had struggled from the start of the semester. One-on-one help sessions and different study strategies hadn’t seemed to help. “I know how discouraged you must be, Ellie. Tell me again what you do when you sit down to study.” “I read and review my class notes and reread the assigned sections in the book. But for some reason I can’t concentrate on much of anything for very long and, even when I can, I don’t remember what I’ve studied by the next day. It’s so frustrating to spend so much time studying and not retain anything. If I fail this class, my GPA might drop enough that I’ll lose my scholarships. I’m so stressed that I can’t sleep, even when I try.” Ellie broke off, and Dr. Kern gently tried to encourage her. “Let’s not give up hope yet. Sometimes you have to use new study methods for a while until you start to see some benefits. Let’s also take a look at your exam and see if there’s a pattern in the questions you missed.” Ellie sniffled again. “OK, but I’m not very hopeful. I’ve been thinking about changing my major. All these upper-level courses seem so hard … there’s so much to learn in such a...