Stress and anxiety reach peak levels during the exam weeks at the TU/e. When speaking to students around campus, it is hard to find someone that can’t relate to stories of sleepless nights, fear of failure or just a general sense of unease. We decided to do something about it. How? It all starts with taking a deep breath.

It was the night before my final exam. I had just read through my notes one more time, and I closed down my open tabs. I decided that all I needed for me to ace my exam, was to get a good night’s sleep. It was about 8AM in the morning, when I called my girlfriend while crying. I still hadn’t been able to get any sleep, with every second passing by adding to my hopelessness.

For some of you this might sound extreme, but the truth is that many students suffer from stress and anxiety. Often they feel like they have to neglect themselves, in order to focus fully on the deadline ahead. Quickly I noticed that it is this mentality that causes them most harm. 

The only way to counter future-based stress is to Enter the Now. And that is what we did on May 17th. Together with Tint, we organized a free-to-join meditation session in the exam week. For the meditation session we used vocal guidance as well as live, soothing guitar music. Since everyone has a different way of meditating, every week we try to explore a different meditation method.

It was awesome to, with the help of Tint, be able to help such a big group of students in their most stressful days. It is always reassuring to see people leave a little bit lighter than they came, and I hope that in the years coming, all students can make their exams after a night of good, restful sleep. 

By Juul van Geleuken, member of “Enter the Now”