Extreme Anxiety and Nervousness

[Nawit]

Hey all,

I recently committed to UPENN dental and although at first I was really excited to be going to a great school, a lot of realities began to hit me. Mainly three things: Cost of attendance (loans), moving away and safety, and difficulty of course work/free time.

I don't want to write an essay, so to sum it up I am extremely overwhelmed with the amount of loans I need to take out. It scares the crap out of me having made little to no money in the past and having no support throughout school. Secondly, I have never lived away from my mother/alone and live in an extremely safe area. Moving away from my mother and to a less safe area (West Philly) is honestly scaring the crap out of me. This is definitely my anxiety/irrational thoughts coming in making me worry about every possible bad scenario that can happen when being on my own (robbery, mugging, violence, etc.). Finally, I am someone who greatly values his free time. I am a huge introvert and love my personal time to just play video games and watch shows. I know the course work in dental school will leave me little to no free time, plus I am worried about how I will adapt/branch out to meet new people given my introverted personality.

All these things together have led me to become extremely anxious and nervous about dental school for the past week (even though it isnt for another 6 months).

Has anyone else felt this way? I am honestly just looking for someone to bounce my concerns off of in hopes of squandering them so I can enjoy this next 6 months instead of constantly worry about what is ahead.

Note: I am aware that being afraid of such things is trivial and that being afraid to move away from my mommy is childish. I have lived in a bubble for nearly my entire life and I am 100% aware that these are feelings I should not be worrying about at the age of 22 (specifically moving away and safety). I just cannot seem to help but worry.

Any and all help/advice/comments is appreciated.

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[Scumbag_Steve]

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[Incis0r]

They accepted you because they have faith in your ability to complete the program, now it's your turn to have faith you'll complete the program.

^Yep. Think about it- By giving you a seat, they are committing to you as a source of revenue for them. Most likely $400,000+ in revenue. Would they want to give this seat to someone who they doubted could finish the program? No, right? If someone dropped out, they'd lose that money.

So by accepting you, they are displaying their firm belief that you will graduate on time and will be able to pull it off.

 

[SweetWater54]

I wouldn't worry to much about the free time. Unless you are trying to specialize, you will have plenty of free time. Yes there will be weeks that are very busy, but there will also be weeks that are very slow and you don't have to worry about class very much.

 

[fogorvostan]

I'm on mobile so I won't write a novel, but just wanted to let you know that it's normal to feel anxiety about a huge change like this. I'm starting in the fall as well and have moments where I'm like "OH MY GOD WHAT AM I DOING?????"

There's something my mother used to tell me and I can't quite remember how it goes, but it's something to the effect of "the time spent waiting for an event is much worse than the actual event itself".

 

[Nawit]

I appreciate all the replies made. It is helping me calm down (very little but at least its helping!). Thank you, rxdmx, for taking the time to write such a detailed post. I hope what you say is true about these cities/schools and their respective safety. I am sure I will get used to the work load as it comes but as of right now, having around 9 hours free a day to work out, play games, watch shows, hang with friends and even just thinking of a 9-5 day with a lot of studying afterwards sounds super daunting (I only ever study a couple hours a few days before exams ). I just want to be sure to find a safe and cozy apartment that I can both study and relax in (I really dislike studying in libraries).

Again, thank you all for your comments. I would appreciate any other thoughts anyone has to chime in. I have always been someone who fears major change and gets anxiety from it so this, being probably the largest change in my life so far, is taking quite a toll on my mental health.

 

[akog]

The cool thing is that you'll be packed into classrooms with over 100 people in your year alone who are facing the same struggle.

 

[Faux]

I won't lie to you, I was an emotional wreck during my first semester of dental school. I never had so many ups and downs in my entire life. I was constantly at an 8-9/10. I'm really surprised I even managed to get the grades I got. First time being alone and on my own, and the weekly train load of information. I was a mess. My dog even died one day into finals, and I also had a huge family situation two week before that But nobody knew my situation through the semester. Just not my style.

But it subsides. Its like going to the gym for the first time, you can barely move the next day. 2-3 weeks later you can go without any soreness. Thats how I am in my 2nd semester of dental school. I'm tested a lot more now with daily,weekly exams/quizzes, but I'm a lot more calmer now. Even one student looked at me crazy today because I told them its not to bad now. Thats how much I was a mess last semester. Its shallow waters now in my opinion. You gain the endurance, you gain the confidence, you gain the faith in your self.

You're going to learn a lot about your self. Good and the bad. But its how you rise up to the challenge and what you do every morning when you're under those circumstances, will determine the kind of person you're going to be.


You're more them welcome to message me in the coming months.

 

[capnamerica]

I'll only be about $180K in the hole upon graduation

Im jelly...

I won't lie to you, I was an emotional wreck during my first semester of dental school. I never had so many ups and downs in my entire life. I was constantly at an 8-9/10. I'm really surprised I even managed to get the grades I got. First time being alone and on my own, and the weekly train load of information. I was a mess. My dog even died one day into finals, and I also had a huge family situation two week before that But nobody knew my situation through the semester. Just not my style.

But it subsides. Its like going to the gym for the first time, you can barely move the next day. 2-3 weeks later you can go without any soreness. Thats how I am in my 2nd semester of dental school. I'm tested a lot more now with daily,weekly exams/quizzes, but I'm a lot more calmer now. Even one student looked at me crazy today because I told them its not to bad now. Thats how much I was a mess last semester. Its shallow waters now in my opinion. You gain the endurance, you gain the confidence, you gain the faith in your self.

You're going to learn a lot about your self. Good and the bad. But its how you rise up to the challenge and what you do every morning when you're under those circumstances, will determine the kind of person you're going to be.


You're more them welcome to message me in the coming months.

Thanks for sharing this. It really helps put things into perspective.

 

[Scumbag_Steve]

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[Nawit]

I won't lie to you, I was an emotional wreck during my first semester of dental school. I never had so many ups and downs in my entire life. I was constantly at an 8-9/10. I'm really surprised I even managed to get the grades I got. First time being alone and on my own, and the weekly train load of information. I was a mess. My dog even died one day into finals, and I also had a huge family situation two week before that But nobody knew my situation through the semester. Just not my style.

But it subsides. Its like going to the gym for the first time, you can barely move the next day. 2-3 weeks later you can go without any soreness. Thats how I am in my 2nd semester of dental school. I'm tested a lot more now with daily,weekly exams/quizzes, but I'm a lot more calmer now. Even one student looked at me crazy today because I told them its not to bad now. Thats how much I was a mess last semester. Its shallow waters now in my opinion. You gain the endurance, you gain the confidence, you gain the faith in your self.

You're going to learn a lot about your self. Good and the bad. But its how you rise up to the challenge and what you do every morning when you're under those circumstances, will determine the kind of person you're going to be.


You're more them welcome to message me in the coming months.

This post was really eye opening. I have no doubt that my first semester is going to be an absolute mess with all the changes. Thank you so much for sharing. Oddly enough, this thread is helping me quite a bit. And I can only thank everyone for contributing. Please, for me and others who may feel the same way, if you have any sort of advice or past experience that you would like to share, please do not hesitate to post. I truly appreciate the response thus far.

 

[Faux]

This post was really eye opening. I have no doubt that my first semester is going to be an absolute mess with all the changes. Thank you so much for sharing. Oddly enough, this thread is helping me quite a bit. And I can only thank everyone for contributing. Please, for me and others who may feel the same way, if you have any sort of advice or past experience that you would like to share, please do not hesitate to post. I truly appreciate the response thus far.

Plus you can still go home if you want. I still go back home once a month.

 

[ClosetNerd828]

Hey man, didnt read the other comments - juat want to be honest. My kind of "grow up" time was the Army/ an almost immediate deployment to Iraq. Life is lime a pool of cold water... It makes you scared and nervous but when you hit tjay water - you'll love it

 

[Nawit]

I just wanted to thank everyone in general for their posts/comments. I do feel very slightly better but I still am extremely anxious. But as mentioned by many people on this thread, I don't think my anxiety/nervousness is really going to subside until I jump into it and just deal with it head on. I just need to find a way to keep myself calm so I can enjoy these next 6 months before classes start up/I have to move out.

 

[PocketRocket]

From a personal development stand point, if you live in your little comfort bubble of watxhing TV shows, playing videos games, and living with your mom, you're not really growing as a person. Doing what first gives you anxiety is what builds character. What you're feeling seems natural, but you can't let that stop you

 

[schmoob]

It SHOULD be scary. It's more of the unknown that's frightening you. I was afraid when I joined the military, when I got married, and when I had each of my kids. But they all turned out to be really wonderful events in my life and as nervous as I am about starting dental school, I hope/expect that I will be happy with that choice as well.
You'll be ok. The first few months will be tough, but once you settle into a routine it'll be your new "normal."

 

[Incis0r]

I was afraid when I joined the military, when I got married