By Alora Anderson
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In our lives, we are met with daily stressors by being students. It feels like the deadlines and exams are never-ending. We have this weighted, anxious feeling in our chests that nothing will ever be quite done because we can finish one exam but then there is a homework assignment due, then there is a thesis project we need to plan for, internship applications to fill out, and jobs to look for.
Even if this never ending cycle can have a rewarding end, it still has its physical and mental weights. One often comes to the question of how one can remedy this feeling. As a new transfer student, I believe I’ve found a way to manage and eliminate the stressors of college that cost little to no money! It is the beach! It has been an amazing way for my friends and me to handle our stress. We reference it as “reconnecting with nature.” This might sound silly but it really works. Sitting at the beach, looking up at the sky, collecting sea shells, hearing the waves crash to the shore, and seeing all the animals surrounding the beach makes you forget about any prior stress. It is a surreal feeling to be able to look at the sky filled with stars and a view that overlooks the city lights. I can not even count the number of times of me and my friends admiring and exploring the beach exclaimed “Life is so beautiful! Our World is awesome!” while just hours or moments before we were balls of stress and anxiety. The beach just feels so comforting it feels like all the stress slips away while being about to stare and admire the beauties our earth has to offer.
The beach has been such an affordable way for me to be able to let the anxieties of school and life slip away and appreciate the beauty of our Long Beach area.
This was the view at Seal Beach, the way the city lights are illuminating, the sunset, hearing the waves crashing; it felt like a beautiful never-ending moment. It was surreal to be able to look at this view. It is even better that we got the experience for free, which, as a broke college student, I'll take!
I encourage all of us as honors students going into our final stretches of the academic semester to explore the beauty Long Beach offers, whether that means just sitting on your lawn, going to the park, and, my favorite, going to the beach. It is a beautiful thing for us to experience this life and see the treasures it offers!
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