Many will tell you that going to the gym and doing exercise is the foolproof way of relieving stress and anxiety. Although I agree with this to an extent, there is something even better to relieve any stress that college has induced or just life stress in general.

Throughout high school, I managed stress relatively well. Every day after school, I would either have running practice or diving practice which constituted, many times, over an hour and a half of physical exertion. Along with the practices every day of the week, every weekend of competition season, which lasted for a few months for each sport, would be filled with out-of-town trips for competitions.

With these trips lasting the entire day, often waking up before the crack of dawn and arriving back home well after dark, the amount of bonding time that my teammates and I had was considerably great. As a result, all of this helped me cope with the stress of high school. What I could not anticipate was the amount of emotional, mental, and physical stress that college would put on me.

While I continued my physical exercise to a lesser extent than high school, the one thing that cannot compare to my dedicated time at the gym and the outdoors for my many runs and diving practices is the relaxation that I experience every time I practice any of my instruments. And because I play harp, violin, piano, and guitar, I have many options. In college while I could not bring my harp with me, I have found places to practice piano and a few people with guitars but what I mainly focus on is my violin. I play my violin every chance that I have because I am addicted to the feeling that I get during and even afterwards.

I need a way to express my thoughts, my emotions, and just who I am that day and my violin is my outlet. Even though I do enjoy singing and that is also another way to express my emotions, violin was my first instrument and the one I enjoy the most, followed closely by the harp. Especially when I am feeling down for whatever reason and sometimes those reasons are plentiful, the violin allows me to validate my feelings and let them out in a healthy manner. While there are times that I feel like I cannot talk to anyone, my violin has always and will always be there for me.

I cannot even begin to imagine what my life would be like if my parents had not had the idea to begin my first music lessons with the violin at a very early age. I have come to appreciate each and every lesson, what I considered wasted “practice time” during my early years, and the recitals my teachers made me play in.

Ultimately, the violin has shaped who I am as a person. I know that without it, I would not be able to handle the roller coaster of what college life is. In spite of the fact that you will probably always be able to find me in the gym or being active outdoors, my music is something that I will absolutely never let go of.