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As a student, you’re probably pretty familiar with stress. You might also have wondered why some of your peers on campus seem to handle their challenges relatively easily while others struggle to meet similar demands. That difference relates to resilience, or grit: the ability to overcome and draw strength from difficult situations. “At our most resilient, we can surf the waves of change and stress rather than being swamped and drowned by them,” says Dr. Holly Rogers, a psychiatrist at Duke University.

In recent years, researchers have identified protective factors and processes that help individuals cope and explored how those can be nurtured. “A large number of people do not develop the problems we would expect them to have [after serious adversity]. We have for 50 years been interested in explaining what makes the difference,” says Dr. Michael Ungar, founder and co-director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia.

Why is resilience so important?

“Resilience skills can help students not just get through college but actually thrive and flourish while doing it,” says Paula Davis-Laack, who designs resilience training programs for professionals and organizations. “Resilience skills bring out the best qualities in a person and activate desirable behaviors. Resilient students can tolerate change, stress, uncertainty, and other types of adversity more effectively. They are less likely to experience setbacks and diminished work/school performance, ‘learned helplessness,’ and other problems.”

Is resilience born or made?

“Resilience has been very conclusively shown to be a bundle of skills that everyone can learn, develop, and practice. One of the leading researchers calls resilience ‘ordinary magic,’ because it doesn’t require anything fancy or sophisticated to build,” says Davis-Laack. External supports matter too, including “the capacity of the institution to create opportunities for students to succeed,” says Ungar.

What builds resilience?

• Hanging in through a challenge
• Learning from experience
• Strong relationships
• Seeing your current situation
  as a turning point
• Humor and realistic optimism
• Appropriate environmental supports

Got grit? Find out here

How does your resilience rate? Test yourself

Which early life experiences block resilience?

Early life experiences have long-term implications. People who go through adverse childhood experiences—like childhood abuse, witnessing violence against their mother, or living with a substance abuser—are at higher risk for alcohol and drug abuse, depression, and other health conditions, according to an influential study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in 1998, and ongoing research.

Other childhood risk factors include:

• A lack of strong connections
  within the family
• Difficulty with social relationships
• School issues, including low achievement, absenteeism, and dropping out
• Living in poverty
• Serious physical or emotional health issues within the family

Which habits make it harder to bounce back from adversity?

• Negativity bias: Bad experiences have more impact on our neuropsychological development than good ones. Resilience-building strategies offset this effect.
• Denial: Difficulty accepting the event or experience
• Victim mentality: “Why does it always happen to me?”
• Placing blame—on yourself or others
• Comparing yourself to others, or unfavorably comparing your present with your past
• Avoidance: Not talking about it and not seeking support from friends, family, and/or a professional

What helps us overcome severe setbacks?

Most children who grow up in difficult circumstances develop into well-adjusted and successful adults. Why? In part, because certain protective factors can offset the challenges.

Protective factors for resilience include:

• Supportive, nurturing parents or other adults
• Stable housing and income
• Regular physical activity
• Mindfulness meditation and/or faith-based services
• Access to religious or faith-based services
• Access to health care
• Strong social relationships and positive peer influences and mentors
• Personal characteristics such as social skills, problem-solving abilities, autonomy, and sense of purpose
• Community programs, such as after-school activities and college supports

TRUE OR FALSE? what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

This is both true and false.

Mild and moderate adversity can help build coping skills, according to research. More than 8 out of 10 students surveyed by Student Health 101 said they had experienced a challenging experience or situation that made them a better person.

Severe adversity is a different story, and there are risks in assuming that any suffering makes us stronger. “By perpetuating the belief that pain is edifying, we place the onus on survivors to heal themselves—and we deemphasize the value of prevention and support services,” pointed out a columnist in the Washington Post in January. The growth potential lies in working with others to overcome trauma, specifically giving and receiving help.

What difference does resilience make to students?

Even in everyday circumstances, resilience makes a difference. In a 2010 study of medical students, the resilient students:

• Had a more positive view of the learning environment
• Were less likely to develop depression or experience burnout
• Were better able to develop and maintain relationships with teachers and other students

Your school can help build your resilience
“A student’s resilience is not just the individual’s capacity to cope. It is also the capacity of the institution to create opportunities for students to succeed. So when Carleton University [in Ontario] noticed that a lot of their first year students felt lonely or disconnected to the university, they began creating cohorts of 100 students who all take classes together. The students felt better supported and made friends, [which] predicted better coping when first-year stressors piled up.” —Ungar

7 ways to build resilience