Press Coffee

French press tend to bring the genuine or bitter flavor of coffee because of its characteristics of steeping and pressing. Pressure can bring in best results like taste of coffee or accomplishments in people's lives. However, people are not coffee. It is not always like that. In my life, I have experienced much pressure.

I can be a over-thinker (surprise!). As a college student, it has been worse. I do not know what I would like to do with my life. I figured out that I want to be a surgical nurse after finishing an non-nursing major for undergrad. It indicates that I will not have any opportunity to get professional education for nursing. "Thanks" to my school, my school does not offer pre-nursing courses other than online courses yay...Along with the uncertainty that nursing is the right path for me, I do not even know the major I am on right now, environmental science, is the one I want to spend my 4 years to study. It's complicated. I do think a lot because I value my life and I want to thrive in my life through serving others in my own way. I believe careers are good ways to serve others in people's lives. It is hard to plan a big picture of my life and it is supposed to be because I am not the controller of my life; God is. However, I am not gonna lie: I still stress out about my future, hehe.

I feel like stress and pressure often get tied up together in conversations or thoughts. When I stress, pressure feels bigger; when I feel pressured, I tend to stress more. Such direct relationship between stress and pressure makes me inefficient and unproductive with tasks to do right in front of me.

Blurbs I said above show the negative side of pressure. I agree that anything excessive can harm your health (physical, mental, and emotional) but people tend to not see how pressure can help you in your life. In order to transform pressure into a beneficial element, what can we do? Here are few ways I have been working and that seem working slowly.

1. Refresh your mind and soul in your own way!

It is easy to get stir-crazy especially when you are overwhelmed with pressure and stress. Before college, my friends and I often go to parks and beaches to release our stress. We played frisbee, volleyball, and Spikeball, we ran, we hung our hammocks, we rock-climbed, we went on hikes, and we rode our bikes to many places. Afterward, it soothed my mind and soul that made me ready to start my work.

I was stressed and felt pressured about my life and this specific semester. I missed going outside to do activities what I used to do, however, living in a windy, snowy, and cold upstate New York did not help to solve the longing. This weekend, I got an opportunity to go to a rock climbing gym with some people from my campus AND I LOVED EVERY SINGLE MOMENT. I was so happy to be there that I could not feel numbness and soreness on my arms and fingers. It refreshed my soul from stress and pressure. What are activities you do or did that

renew your mind and soul? Knitting, playing an instrument, cooking or baking, reading a book, painting, and more. Write a list of things you truly enjoy to do. It will be help you when you are overwhelmed with stress and pressure.

2. DO > THINK

Since I was little, my parents have often reminded me when they see me stress

"Joanne, you are wasting your time by stressing out and overthinking instead of doing something about it."

I logically agree with them, however, it is easier to be said than be done. Being a do-er is hard, however, it helps you to make a progress away from frustration and to focus on what is in front of you. For instance, finding opportunities to shadow nurses or doctors, talking with any acquaintance who is a nurse, and going to a career center would help me to make a progress to answer the question about my career than suffering confusion and frustration; and focusing on studying would help me to get good grades that could be beneficial for the future.

3. It's okay to do less

I would like to tell you: it is okay to not satisfy the expectations that society or people have for you, which creates pressure that we all get. Taking 23 credits this semester aggravated my mental health when I was already overwhelmed with thinking about my career. Guess what I did: I dropped a class. It was my first time dropping a class so I felt weird like I was admitting that I could not do it. But I realized that it is okay to admit that doing a lot is challenging and it is okay to not challenge yourself all the time. After dropping it, I have felt way better! Now I have time to spend for my own self and others, and this has been helping me to be off from pressure.

Pressure is scary but show the society that you are on top of the pressure.

and enjoy your coffee:)