During first few months of school, it is not uncommon for students to buzz around signing up for clubs, trying out for Varsity teams, and adjusting themselves to their classes. On top of such activities, seniors have more important obligations that make them busier from the beginning of the school year: college applications. Since applying for multiple universities at once is a time-consuming process, many seniors find ways to relieve their stress by pursuing their hobbies and interests, some of which include playing games, watching television, and playing sports.
“Whenever I am stressed out about college applications or school work, I simply force myself to go outside and play tennis or soccer because I know that making myself be more active will help me forget about my stress for a while,” said Amy Kim (12). “However, when I am feeling a little less active, I simply like to take a nap and give myself a short break. Both playing sports and sleeping are effective ways to alleviate my stress.”
While many seniors play sports to take a break from the large amount of work they have to complete, non-athletes prefer to pursue activities that require less physical activity. Some people prefer to stay indoors and immerse themselves in less intensive activities that not only suit their interests, but also minimize physical movement that they consider exhausting. These students typically enjoy watching television shows and movies, reading books, and taking pictures.
“In my free time I really enjoy taking pictures of a variety of things, such as people, the nature, and random objects,” said Jaeho Hwang (12). “I especially find taking pictures of motionless objects very soothing and stress-relieving because it allows me to notice the small, yet fascinating and beautiful details of a certain subject that would be difficult to see with the naked eye. Moreover, photography is definitely an ideal hobby for people like me, who are less active.”
Apart from pursuing individual hobbies, seniors also alleviate their stress by meeting up with their friends to do activities together. For one, many seniors enjoy meeting with their friends in popular places such as Gangnam Station or Garosugil to eat high quality food and have fun doing activities such as karaoke. On the other hand, students who prefer to stay indoors usually gather together in a PC bang, a Korean gaming center, or any other comfortable location to play multiplayer games and forget about the demands of college application season.
“Personally, I love meeting up with my friends to eat food and have fun shopping at popular places like Gangnam Station to relieve my stress,” said Unnseo Park (12). “Not only that, but places like karaoke rooms and PC Bangs are amazing places to go once in a while to momentarily forget about college applications and enjoy myself. In addition, going outside to have fun once in a while actually helps me work harder and more efficiently later on.”