Stress. No one wants it and yet there’s too much of it. It’s the start of week 5 of this lovely spring semester, so naturally stress has slithered into all of our lives and made the usually bearable absolutely agonizing.

As undergraduates, it’s very easy for stress to find us. It hides between our organic chemistry notes, sits at the bottom of our ever-growing laundry pile, rolls its eyes at us as we show up five minutes late to work because of irritating Rt. 347 traffic. It laughs when our laptops crash, chuckles when our Residential Advisors write us up unjustly and jumps with joy when the Sinc Site printing lines force us to miss our quick-coffee-before-calculus plans.

At first, I thought the key to leading a stress-free life was to master the fine art of hiding from it. As in the playground game of hide and seek, it only made sense to forever hide from stress, praying it wouldn’t find me.

But, stress is like that annoying sixth grader playing with the preschool kids. He’s bigger, faster, and always peeks when he’s counting.

Rather than trying to run and hide from the inevitable, I say we face it head on. After much research, here are five things I found (compiled from several articles written on Discovery Health online) that should crush some of that anxiety and lead to a more carefree semester.

First, spend a few minutes in silence every day. I know this seems surreal on a campus with about 15,000 undergraduates but sometimes taking a fifteen minute mental break will wash away a layer of built-up stress from the day. Find a place away from the Kelly fire alarms and suitemates who think that they play guitar better than Kurt Cobain.

Second, make time each week to do something you love. Purse your passion. Whether this involves trying to paint like Picasso, learning a language, playing with your little orange kitten – do something. If you have the time, try going for a run. Physical fitness lowers your blood pressure and will cause you to sleep better at night.

Third, do less. Take a look at your to-do list, get your red pen and cross a few things off. Whether you push them forward to next week or simply decide some tasks were unnecessary, you’ll feel better with more time for yourself.

Fourth, practice saying “no.’ Whether it’s a coworker asking you to cover their shift, or a classmate asking you to help them with their extra-credit biology homework, it’s okay to say “no.” We’re all insanely busy with grad school applications, LSAT classes and our after-school jobs so, if it’s something you honestly can’t handle, just admit that you aren’t able to.

Lastly, laugh. Watch hilarious YouTube videos or find yourself a new favorite comedian (I recently fell in love with Sebastian Maniscalco). Read a Joke-of-the-day, have a good conversation with friends, do anything that will make you smile more.

Just remember to take it easy. Even though the self-help aisle at Borders will always be there, stress doesn’t look on anyone. So, keep your head up high and keep these four words in mind: It does get better.