Anxiety is an epidemic in the United States today and college students are noted to be the most stressed population. This research study focuses on current practicum and student teachers in a University professional teacher education preparation program. Participants also include recent graduates of the same program. Data is collected utilizing Qualtrics surveys, semi-structured interviews, and reflective journal entries of pre-service teachers. Narrative inquiry allows the participants and researcher to co-construct the participants’ narratives of experience. Categorical coding matrices help develop categories of responses from participants’ quotations. A social constructivist perspective considers the role of language in constructing ways of thinking. The data reflects contradictions in participants’ notions of “being supported” and a discrepancy between participants’ perceptions and programmatic requirements. It reveals unrecognized power within participants’ agency. The text explains how increased notions of agency may help participants' cope with feelings of stress and anxiety It is important to consider how teacher educators may further cultivate pre-service teachers’ agency through particular teaching practices. Based on the findings in this research, as pre-service teachers transition from students to teachers, the support of their agentic actions and the facilitation of their recognition of notions of agency are recommended to support coping with stress and anxiety. Additionally, the data is reflective of the positive impact of pre-service teachers' reflecting on prior "writing to heal" journal exercises. In time, by reflecting and "rewriting their narratives" they engage in "writing to learn", which also opens up opportunities to for them to consider agency and agentic action.