College can hold some of the best years of your life, but also some stressful ones. During my first semester at USF St. Petersburg, my classes’ workload brought my stress levels to a new high. Assignment after assignment, test after test, discussion posts followed by classmate replies, and readings with minimal time to comprehend. I felt trapped in an endless spiral of assignments, readings, and papers. The stress can swallow you up and feel like you’re being sucked down a rabbit hole.
I couldn’t let the stress consume me, so I decided to find a way to release it. Everyone has different ways of de-stressing, but hammocking works wonders for me. On campus, a few feet from The Edge, our campus rec center, is a hammock rig that sits right on the water; this is where I set up camp most days. Sitting outdoors for me is one of the most relaxing things I can do. On the days that I try and do my homework, I get swept away by the beautiful environment around me and can’t get any work done. I end up crashing because of how relaxed I become. I have turned into an avid hammock user, going as far as to convince a couple of my friends to buy their own. Sitting in my hammock surrounded by friends and enjoying the scene of the water is, in my opinion, the greatest way to take away the stress of college. It feels as though my stress gets blown into the bay with the breeze as I swing in my hammock. Although I do enjoy going with my friends, I have gone alone just to read; at the moment I am reading the book Love and Other Words, or just taking in the beautiful scenery that I’m surrounded by. If I do go alone, it’s so I can have some alone time and recharge my battery.
Being outdoors is the simplest way to reduce stress according to PubMed. This is especially easy being on the St. Pete campus, right next to the water. Being from New York, during the school year, it was very cold and when I got stressed, I couldn’t go outside too often. Other than the summer or springtime, it would get down into single digits, and that isn’t very relaxing or fun to sit out in. Thus, I would be stuck indoors. Being in Florida in the coldest part of the year right now, where often, it doesn’t get below 50°. Even on some of the cooler days, it is still enjoyable to sit outside and maybe snuggle up with a fuzzy blanket and soak up all the wonderful nature around. Like being next to the water and seeing the sunset when in the evening. Although sometimes I am only able to sit for only a little bit in my hammock, that is what releases my stress and allows me to give my very best every day.