Exam time looms. The gigantic invisible weight descends… STRESS. So how do Penn students relieve the tension? Some are more inventive than others. There does seem to be one universal approach toward dealing with academic stress, though — if you can’t make the stress go away, you can at least forget about it for a little while!

Tesnim Beg, College ’02
I like to go distance running for miles — it takes my mind off it.

Asa Johnson, College ’01
I lift weights; when I’m tired I don’t think about exams.

Kevin Reeves, Engineering ’01
I guess I try to go out at least one night on the weekend and not sit home and let it build up.

Aqsa Khan, College ’03
I go take photos. A hobby that’s not study-related clears your brain.

Vincent Connors, College ’01
Skateboarding. It’s a physical activity that’s painful — when you get hurt you just want to sit down and read.

Michelle Lieberman, Engineering ’01
I go with my roommate to Baskin Robbins to get ice cream. It’s a personal treat for me and gets me out of the house.

Amna Suharwardy, Engineering ’03
Anything not study-related, just sit in my pj’s in front of the TV to tune it all out of my mind.

Jake Peters, Engineering & Wharton ’01
This has to be PG... I like to get off campus, go downtown and see movies to forget that I’m in school.

Leslie Dubeck, College ’04
I sleep a lot — that’s probably how I relieve my stress because when I’m asleep I’m just asleep.

Hal Hodes, College ’02
In my head I live in the next day after the test — the day of studying doesn’t count.

Alana Cohen, College ’01
I probably run, run really fast. It just relieves a lot of tension.

Chris McFall, Engineering ’04
Eat, maybe. Popcorn — I got a big can of popcorn recently from my mom, the big holiday kind.

Emily Perschetz, College ’01
I paint my toenails. It’s half an hour where I can’t be studying and I can wait as long as I want for them to dry — it’s the neverending study break if I want it to be.

Mark Lion, College ’01
Try not to stress until the day before, and put off thinking about it for as long as possible. Keep myself occupied with other things — like a play (come see “Betrayal” put on by Arts House Theater).

Hilary Goodman, College ’03
Eat — anything bad for you.

Ron Lin, Engineering ’01
I go to a random lecture — like Andy Racliff — I never would have gone to see that otherwise. I watch rich venture capitalists.

—Katie Claypoole