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Brandon Thai

Professor Beadle

English 115

25 September 2017

A Space of Our Own

Day to day, we live our lives with dozens of different personas, depending on where we

are, we change the way we act, look, and communicate to get the most out of the situation. Each

situation has its favors and cons and what it considers strengths or weaknesses; within these

spaces there are complications we deem as monstrous, what we perceive as a threat, to represent

our fears. In a university setting, the fear of anxiety, stress, and not knowing are monstrous due

to their ability to greatly affect our lives in major ways. As students, we must juggle so many

different responsibilities that it is easy to get caught up, lose yourself and slip up. The

construction of this space revolves around the success of the student. Values, no matter what

they be, fears of inadequacy, and morals are shaped by our desire for happiness, our livelihoods

seemingly depend on surviving the journey into adulthood through the university space. This

reveals that the stage of university in our life is a major stepping stone for not only the younger

generation but older ones as well.

Anxiety, stress, and fear of the unknown are problems some experience more than others

and are all monstrous in their own ways. These ailments take their course in everyones lives.

Unfortunately, such ailments that deal with mental health get overlooked. Often we judge a book

by its cover without looking deeper when we view others, however it is the biggest component

affecting how we act and carry ourselves. Students experience anxiety in a number of ways, but
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more seriously it can greatly affect their motivation and drive. With all the pressure of balancing

health, school, a social life, and sleep, it can be difficult to stay calm and work through life. This

is where anxiety comes in and takes advantage to instill fear and worry in our hearts. Jessica

Minahan, of the Huffington Post, states in the article Anxiety: The Hidden Disability That

Affects One in Eight Children, This invisible disability [anxiety] can greatly affect academic

performance as well. Anxiety impacts a students working memory, making it difficult to learn

and retain information. The anxious student works and thinks less efficiently, which significantly

affects the students learning capability (Minahan). Anxiety itself is monstrous and acts as a

catalyst for other problems. Alongside anxiety often comes stress with its constant worry and

angst. Although stress can at times be a good motivating factor, having too much can destroy

you. Day by day, we experience stress by constantly worrying about a vast number of different

responsibilities. I have seen stress cause students and adults alike to break down and lose track of

their goals and motivations. In the university setting there is fear of the unknown. Juggling all

our responsibilities is difficult to manage but its something we must do to remain confident and

successful. Trying to focus on so many responsibilities can lead to zoning out and losing

concentration. Going from class to class, students can sometimes forget and simply not

understand concepts. This is where fear of the unknown is derived from. Once you fail to

understand one concept it can snowball out of control, leading to anxiety and stress. This vicious

cycle is never ending, everyone is human and bound to have setbacks every now and then.

Fear is a major player in our lives; it shapes our decisions, actions and even our mindsets.

This comes from when our mental states seemingly become attacked with our own

uncontrollable worries. What makes these fears so dangerous is its ability to instill doubt in our

minds and hearts. It causes us to believe that we cannot accomplish our goals making us unable
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to get to where we want in the future. I am guilty of such fears as excuses for me to become lazy

and stop myself from doing what I need to be successful. As we mature we slowly combat our

fears with logic, reason, and confidence, but that does not mean they sometimes get the best of

us. Growing up I realized that I am good at making connections with people and communicating,

however I let my fear of embarrassment and awkwardness hold me back from truly expressing

myself. Looking back, it is apparent that these fears are real and provide real dangers. In

extreme cases, the space of university can easily consume students and cause them to break

down and rethink their importance.

Along the same lines depression is a major problem that many students face from stress,

anxiety, and fears piling together. Everyone has a breaking point, and eventually it can too be

hard to live under the weight of these complications. Living up to the expectations of others also

adds to the pressure that students experience. The accumulation of all these complications

present a real danger can get into the mind of the student and take its toll. These fears are

monstrous due to their ability to make small problems build up into major consequences.

Each situation has its own demands, its own expectations. (Losh 9). When approaching a

new problem, it is important to take the time to plan ahead and adapt to stay sane.

Each day we wake to face the real world around us, there are ways to run and hide our

monsters will always keep perusing us. Chuck Klosterman, author and essayist, from the article

My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Seems Rather Undead states When we think critically

about monsters, we tend to classify them as personifications of what we fear. (Hoffman 40).

These fears represent our problems that will never stop arising, with each new fear comes a new

monster, a new obstacle to overcome. Being monstrous is defined as obsolete, strange, or

unnatural, these characteristics represent what we fear and should be used as motivating factors
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to combat this evil. Therefore, we must stay resilient and fight them off till the end and not let

what we fear get the best of us.

This spaces construction of the monstrous depicts our fears as obstacles that we as

students must overcome to be successful and complete their goals. Values and beliefs differ from

person to person but they are both derived from our hearts and mindsets. Our values are shown

when we experience something monstrous and overcome it to accomplish what we set out to do.

In the past, I did not realize how much being successful in class meant to me until I worked

through my fears, stress and anxieties to not give up and keep going to the best of my ability.

Our fears can be seen as roadblocks that make us stronger; on a university campus fears are not

only seen in the classroom, but outside as well. Managing good grades, relationships, and a

healthy lifestyle can cause panic and fear but they are there to make us stronger than those

around us. Values and fears work together to shape our beliefs, what we hold true to ourselves,

we use these as motivating factors to better our drive. I have always been told what we believe is

what we achieve. The spaces construction of the monstrous shows that fears are just

complications that we overcome to show the values and beliefs and what we care about and hold

true. You never truly understand what your desires and values are until fear is experienced, fear

is what triggers our hearts to reveal our true values and desires, to give us a reason to keep

fighting.

The university space presents anxiety, stress, and fear of the unknown as monstrous

roadblocks that can destroy our livelihoods hoping for our eventual failure. This spaces

construction of the monstrous shows us that our beliefs and values are shaped by our fears.

Overcoming these fears shows us that what we believe and value is stronger than any fear that is

in front of us.
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Works Cited

Klosterman, Chuck. My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead. Hoffman,

Andrew J. Monsters: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. N.p.: Bedford/St. Martin's, a

Macmillan Education Imprint, 2016. Print. pp. 40-45.

Losh, Elizabeth M., et al. Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to Writing. 2nd ed.,

Bedfor/St.Martins, 2017.

Minahan, Jessica. "Anxiety: The Hidden Disability That Affects One in Eight Children." The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 May 2012. Web. 03 Oct. 2017.