“Stressed is desserts spelled backwards!”
-Anonymous
Coming back for a new semester is always fun. You see your biffles again, you’re excited to take the classes you pre-enrolled in last semester, and most importantly, it’s the start of a new semester. It feels like the first day of school, where you can get slightly dressier and scan around for the cuties in your class or talk with friends about your amazing winter break vacation.
But, as the semester progresses though, you start wondering why you ever took that one class or why do you put yourself through so many credits. More importantly, the dread event known as ‘prelim season’ starts. Instead of hanging out with friends and watching tv shows, suddenly there’s no time for anything. Prelim season seems like it will never end, and your social life doesn’t exit anymore. (I don’t even remember when was the last time I went out for dinner at Aladdin’s with my friends. Er maybe it was last semester….I think?)
So for all you stressed collegiettes™ submerged in Olin basement, here’s a list of tips to deal with these crazy weeks before spring break:
1. Meditation If all those biology terms sound scary, just take a deep breath and close your eyes. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Try this calming technique before an exam to squelch any anxieties.
2. Yoga Not only for hippies. According to Amy,* yoga helps you de-stress by relieving physical tension and emptying your mind of all worries. Plus you get the benefit of exercising, even if you don’t realize it.
3. Take breaks Whenever you study, it’s important to take short breaks to clear your head and rest your eyes. Mike* says, “After a couple of hours of studying, I usually try to take a twenty minute break. I walk up Libe Slope and towards Tower Road before coming back [to West].”
4. Work out When we exercise, we reduce levels of cortisol, a hormone that causes stomach fat to build up. Additionally, endorphins (neurotransmitters) make us feel happier and upbeat about ourselves.
5. SLEEP!
Instead of going on Facebook for twenty minutes, spend it snoozing instead. As college students, we often feel that sleep needs to be sacrificed to do all our work. But even taking a short nap (aka a power nap) during the day for twenty minutes can help us retain information and make us more efficient. Plus it’s only twenty minutes out of twenty four hours. If you think about it, it’s only 1.4% of our day.
Sources:
Mike*, Cornell University
Amy*, Cornell University
Jason Menoutis, Ed.D. (2008). “Physical Activity and Health.” (Abstract). Nasm Pro.
http://www.nasm.org/nasmpro/library/showarticle.aspx?id=14220#one.
http://blogs.chatham.edu/undergrad/files/2010/10/sleeping-student.jpg
*Names have been changed.