2. Stress can help athletes attain difficult goals and perform at their maximum potential. Thesis: (Anshel)

3. Good stress, also known as, eustress, is the anticipation athletes have when they are unsure whether they, their team, or the opposing team will score next. Instead of feeling depressed and overwhelmed, athletes feel nervous, yet cheerful and excited from good stress. Eustress is like a high for college athletes, enabling them to push themselves to exceed their limitations. Good stress produces a competitive drive within athletes. As college athletes feel stressed, their minds clear, they focus, and effortlessly their goal is met. (Anshel)

4. College athletes also need to be on top of their game in the classroom. With finals, exams, and papers, college athletes must maintain good grades to be eligible to play. Some stress will help them perform at their best. It is important for them to use the amount of good stress to benefit themselves. Academically, good stress may help a college athlete work more efficiently towards a deadline. (Anshel)

5. Without energy, college athletes would not be able to push themselves physically or mentally. One of Montefiore Medical Center’s psychiatrists, Dr. Lynne Tan says, “Stress is a burst of energy…It’s our body telling us what we need to do.” The small burst of hormones athletes feel when they are under pressure to complete a task is due to stress. The energized feedback stress gives college athletes is comforting for them. (Carmichael)

6. College athletes’ ongoing busy schedules make it easy for them to stay busy and stressed. The stressful schedule that college athletes have helps them avoid making poor decisions. They are restricted to a healthy diet, so without the pressure to stay true to it, who knows what they would consume. If they didn’t have to remain in such great shape, they wouldn’t spend as much time in the gym. Without stress, they wouldn’t be driven to become quicker, more powerful, or more agile. (Weaver)

7. In Health Magazine, Mary Carmichael states: “Stress is like a body temperature: if it’s too low or too high, you can’t survive, but the right balance can keep you going strong.” Good stress is the only kind of stress that lasts for a short amount of time. Good stress causes little to no damage to the body and contributes to a healthier, longer life. A track star may use good stress to spark an explosive sprint off the starting blocks. (Carmichael)

8. Deborah Gillespie related stress to food in her article, Eustress for Success. She believes that stress is essential for all athletes’ wellbeing, just like food is. Without any stress at all, athletes would not have the ability to mentally or physically push themselves. (Gillespie)

9. Works Cited Anshel, Mark. "Positive Stress Is Good For You." August 2008. 28 November 2009. Carmichael, Mary. "Who Says Stress is Bad For You?" Newsweek. 14 February 2009. 28 November 2009. Gillespie, Deborah. "Eustress For Success." Picolio. June 2007. 28 November 2009. "Positive vs. Negative Stress." Stress Focus. 2009. 28 November 2009. Weaver, Jane. "Can Stress Actually Be Good For You?" MSNBC. 20 December 2006. 28 November 2009.