Stress is inevitable; there's no doubt about that. From an evolutionary biology perspective, stress is necessary for our bodies to engage in fight-or-flight responses as a result of a life-threatening situation. Thus, the physiological responses that the body undergoes stem from early humans' responses to life or death situations. In modern society, when we get stressed out about minor things, the same physiological responses occur. Increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate over time is not healthy. Therefore, it is important to find ways to alleviate your stress in healthy coping mechanisms, especially when these stressful situations are not life or death situations.
In college, students are exposed to different stress-inducing situations pretty frequently. With the increasing popularity of aromatherapy, essential oils are one way of reducing stress. They are especially useful because you can throw the oil in your backpack and pull it out whenever you need to on campus.
Here are 19 times during the semester that you start sniffing the Stress Away oil.
1. When you are handed a 20-page syllabus
You just know it's going to be a long semester.
2. When you spend more than two months of rent on one semester's worth of books
Access codes plus rentals plus lab manuels...
3. When all of your midterms are on the same day
What to study for first?
4. When the Starbucks line is 100-people long
Everyone needs their caffeine and sugar fix at the same time.
5. When you lose your earbuds
You need your mustic to get your through the day.
6. When your professor gives you a pop-quiz
Especially stress-inducing when you didn't do the reading last night. Oops.
7. When the exam is all extended response questions
Time to get writing.
8. When you haven't started writing the 10-page paper that's due tomorrow
Here's to an all-nighter.
9. When you lose Internet connection
Everything is done online now, so this is a huge inconvenience.
10. When your professor doesn't email you back for days
You needed an answer yesterday, so it's just whatever now.
11. Anytime you check your grades online
It's scary while Canvas loads your most updated grades.
12. While you're cramming for an exam
Hopefully if you are less stressed then you will be more focused and remember everything.
13. When you can't find a parking spot
And you're running late.
14. When it's school preview day
It's hard to get anywhere on campus when it's full of groups of high school students getting tours of the campus.
15. When you forgot to bring your book to school
Hopefully, you won't need to reference any page numbers today in class.
16. When it's dead week
Wrapping up classes and finishing last minute errands before finals week is probably worse than actual finals week.
17. When somebody sits in your unassigned assigned seat
It's an unspoken rule that the seat you have been occupying every day in the lecture for the entire semester is YOUR seat... so don't switch things up.
18. When you're in a sucky living situation
We've all been there once (or twice, or three times...) and while it isn't the most enjoyable thing, you are learning a lot about yourself by living in dorms, apartments, sorority houses, your first house, with or without roommates (and other intruding people).
19. When finals week has arrived at last
Allow the Stress Away oil sniffing to commence!!!
