Written and Media by Paige Lunde.
It’s only the third week of the semester and some of us are already falling and being buried by stress. I mean, it makes sense because of the studio classes and then Core and also trying to keep up with chapel and get all your credits. It’s a handful and some of us are already feeling like our hair is falling out or like we may lose our teeth any day now. So that’s why I decided to test out some ways to de-stress and inform all of you how to not feel like the bus is running you over.
First on the list is exercise. To be honest, I’m not the type to go out to a gym and go crazy with all the equipment. I’ll go for a run every once in awhile (every blue moon or so) and that’s pretty much my definition of exercising. But exercising actually does help you to “de-stress”. I asked around and found some people who exercised to try to avoid stressing out and student Josh Herrick put it in the best way. “Exercise is an activity in which it pushes worries and other thoughts out of my mind and helps me focus on one issue at a time. It just helps so that I can put all my energy into one thing and that way, I can focus on what’s at hand and work it out.”
Exercise is an activity in which it pushes worries and other thoughts out of my mind and helps me focus on one issue at a time. It just helps so that I can put all my energy into one thing and that way, I can focus on what’s at hand and work it out. -Josh Herrick, Holtwick RC
Next up on the list is to do something with your friends! Now this one may seem like it might not work because sometimes even your friends can stress you out but it does. When you hang out with your friends, you don’t have the burden of trying to impress anyone because your friends already know exactly who you are. You can be one hundred percent yourself. Mary Krauss said, “I like to hang out with my friends to help de-stress because it helps me not to worry so much and it helps me relax and be able to have fun.”
Next up on the list is animals. Now, I don’t have any animals with me at college (I cry every night because of it) but what I do have is my mom sending pictures of my cat, dog, and my brother’s new puppy to me every other day. It’s the next best thing to having them with you. Even though I would rather have them with me all the time, I’ll settle for pictures of them and the random long text from my mom talking about them. Animals help you de-stress because you relax when you’re with then– and come on, who can feel stressed out with a ball of fluff?
Next up, entertainment! This means music or TV or Netflix , whatever you do to be entertained. Watch your favorite show or listen to your favorite band. The effects of doing something that you like and something that entertains you helps push stress out of your mind. The RC of Holtiwck (second floor), Tawnie Kozora, says she watches K-Dramas in the main lounge of Holtwick with Mary to help her not stress out. If good ol’ American entertainment isn’t helping, ask Tawnie and Mary which Korean shows to watch. On the subject of music, a friend of mine, Lindsey Casey, says “For playing, it just feels good to play something that sounds good that’s coming from me. For listening, it just gets my mind off things, it can be inspiring sometimes too.” Entertainment can help push the stress away and help you focus on other things to where you won’t be so focused on what’s stressing you out.
For playing, it just feels good to play something that sounds good that’s coming from me. For listening, it just gets my mind off things, it can be inspiring sometimes too. -Lindsey Casey, Freshman
Stress can get in the way. There’s not a day that goes by that we aren’t at war with stress. We’re college students, living in a world we all want to change. So you can take my advice and do some of these to help get your mind off of it all. This isn’t a complete list of ways to help, but I do hope it does help and that you look for your own way to help with your stress.
