With April being National Stress Awareness Month, people across the nation are encouraged to evaluate and healthily deal with their stress. Rich Millo, a sophomore in the College of Education, said he uses certain strategies to reduce stress with so much happening in his life.
“The main thing that is stressing me out lately is balancing all my upcoming assignments, exams and extracurriculars all at once,” Millo said. “On top of that, finals are coming up very soon, so dealing with all of that at once is at an all-time high for this month.”
Millo said he has a couple of go-to tactics to stay calm during this hectic time. The first thing he does when school life gets crazy is to make sure to find a free chunk of time where he can do some activities that melt his stress away. His favorites are listening to music and working out.
“I try to ensure that I have free time in my day where I can take a nap, hang out with friends, listen to music or go work out,” Millo said. “I think it’s important to find time so you don’t over-stress and fatigue yourself because it won’t do you any good in being productive at all if that happens.”
For Delaney Coomans, a sophomore in the College of Communication, there is one big thing stressing her out this month: looking for a summer internship. Coomans said she is focused on trying to secure a summer internship before school is over so she can get experience in her field. Going through the interviewing stages throughout the month is putting a lot of stress on her to be successful.
“I have had four interviews just this week,” Coomas said. “Going at this pace has been pretty overwhelming for me. I know once I get (an internship) I will feel at ease, but for right now, things are hectic.”
One big distraction for her after all of that interviewing was to go to an art museum over the weekend, which she said got her mind off of everything. Other activities Coomans said she does to unwind are going to the movies, hanging with friends and, most importantly, getting lots of sleep and eating right.
Similarly, searching for a fitting internship for the summer also has Alex Simonian, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, looking for ways to release stress. Simonian said he prefers to go to the Straz Tower gym and pump some iron when the stress gets to him.
“I am trying to secure an internship that is in an ideal location and also goes well with my major, so that can be stressful,” Simonian said. “I just end up going to Straz and working out when I start to get overwhelmed by all the searching and interviewing. Getting my thoughts and priorities in order after going to the gym is so much better.”
Another activity Simonian said he does to unwind is to take advantage of the company of Cu the Therapy Dog, the Counseling Center’s furriest staff member. Simonian said that taking some time off and visiting Cu makes him feel “way less stressed about everything, it’s a really good break.”
Along with Cu, the therapy center also has a multitude of supportive staff members that students can talk to when they are feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
