I was born into stress and live my life in stress. I am constantly getting stressed out. Whether it’s family, friends or schoolwork, stress always finds its way back to me.

Over the course of my time here at Oswego State, I have come up with a few different ways to beat stress. Some ideas work for me and others don’t, but maybe they will help someone out there.

My go-to method of relaxing is tea. I don’t mean those tiny little bags of tea you get at the dining hall; I mean actual tea. They sell little bags of loose leaf tea online for $2. After a stressful day of classes, I always make sure to brew a cup of some nice lavender tea. Lavender has also been known to help with sleeping and stress.

Another thing that I find relieves my stress is making sure my lights have a soft glow. Some of the lights here on campus are a bit harsh on the eyes. Typically, I find myself getting stressed out just being in a room with fluorescent lights. I, for one, feel like I’m in an interrogation room. Softer light gives the room a homier feel.

When I’m home, I have my pets to comfort me. Being here without them is difficult. However, I now have two fish, Mushu and Sully, who calm things down a bit. When I’m sitting at my desk writing a paper or one of my articles, I tend to just look at their tanks. They offer a mini escape from the life of a busy college student. It’s one of the reasons a lot of doctors and dentists have them in the waiting room of their offices. Water in general acts as a natural relaxant.

In the need of an escape from the real world, I look to reading. I’ve always had a love for reading. I stick to mostly fantasy and other genres of fiction. My favorite book is “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger and I always read it around the holiday season. I have found that book in particular to be relaxing because it’s a nice steady romance novel that goes at a calm pace and doesn’t rush the reader like some novels. I highly recommend it for anyone who is into that sort of thing.

My advice to those that want to read to relax is to find that one book that just makes you happy and that you could read over and over again. While I do believe the more books you read, the happier you’ll be, finding that one book and knowing you can come back to it over and over is one of the greatest feelings. It’s like visiting an old friend.

Stress doesn’t have to consume you. If it starts to, don’t worry too much about it. While stress is a naturally occurring thing, it can be taken care of in many different ways. Hopefully, my ways of de-stressing will help someone out there.