As many of you know, there are only about six weeks of school left. To some, it may scare you and to others it may excite you. There may only be six more weeks until we say goodbye to Furman for the summer, but before that happens, we have finals. They are slowly getting closer and make us nervous or stressed.

Being stressed is no fun and it’s not fun to be around stressed or nervous people. The final weeks of the semester should be pleasant. You don’t want your last memories of this semester to include you being extremely stressed.

There are ways to avoid being stressed and to relax while still being somewhat productive. People can be relaxed by many different activities, but here are some suggestions you can try if you are not sure what to do or if you are just new at this sort of thing.

Sleep can help with stress and helps in retaining information that we learn that day. Listen to some soothing sounds before bed. Go to Youtube and search for nature sounds. They have many results with different nature scenes like crashing waves and chirping birds. While listening, finish up an assignment and then head to bed.

Exercise is important too. Head to the PAC and bring something to study with you. While you ride the elliptical, prop your work up and study it. The same can go for the stationary bikes. As soon as you know it, you have worked out for an hour and got lots of work done. Just don’t forget water!

Get outside with some friends from your classes and take a bike ride while discussing material from the class. If every person understands a concept better than someone else, they could explain it. At the end of the bike ride you will hopefully know more about the subject you were studying. You could get creative and do this with something other than a biking and it could have the same effects.

You could go the old fashioned way and just get a massage. They are really relaxing and you feel great afterwards. There are places that aren’t that expensive and there are places that are a little more pricey just because of the environment and all the fancy stuff they offer. You could probably find one at a price good for you.

I hope you found something you thought is interesting or got an idea from reading this. You don’t have to be stressed to have good grades and do well. I wish you well in your endeavors to finish out this semester strong. Remember, if all else fails, just crank up the music and dance in your room. I’m sure you’ll feel way better after that.