Category: Relaxation

Assess the Stress

This is it guys. Two more weeks and then FINALS! Wow, two sentences into a blog post and I’m already about to reach for the stress chocolate I have stashed in my desk right next to the stress tea. Admittedly, the rest of the semester is going to be non-stop GO, GO, GO, for me and a lot of y’all out there. We’ve all being kicking ass this year and nothing is stopping us now. Even that crippling fear of ending the semester in a horrific crash and burn finals extravaganza doesn’t stand a chance. Not going to happen, folks. Why? Because we are going to keep our stress in check. Rachel and I have both been through our fair share of finals weeks (not to mention Rachel’s COMPS are tomorrow! GO WISH HER LUCK) and we’ve gathered up our top tips for finishing the semester with minimal freak out moments.


  1. Hang on to your favorite mantras for dear life until it’s all over. My personal favorite currently is “Stay ahead of them game, or at least don’t fall behind”, while I’m pretty sure Rachel’s is “All my tasks are accomplishable”.  I used to think mantras were a little silly, but I am a full fledged believer now. Sometimes just taking a moment to remind yourself that you are capable really helps.




  1. Plan Ahead. I have a lot of trouble with this one, even though I meticulously plan out my days via my iCal. My love for sleeping in always dashes my morning plans. So now, I’m trying to make my morning plans part of my evening plans. I really, really recommend Unfuck Your Habitat’s tumblr for further help on this issue. Tonight I’ve actually got my lunch for tomorrow ready and an outfit picked out for tomorrow!

 

  1. Lists, lists, lists. We’ve said it before and will say it again. We at STS love (need) our lists. Breaking things down. Crossing them off. I don’t know how people passed finals before lists were invented in 1873 by Baroness von Listenstein.


  1. Talk it out with friends. Sometimes you really just need to vent and complain and get all your frustrations out before you can go back to tackling everything. Even just a quick phone chat can put you in a better mood and chances are you’ll also brighten up your friend’s day as well!


  1. Or talk it out with a campus provided therapist. Maybe your friends are busy. Maybe you just want to discuss something with an unbiased third party. Maybe you really need to reach out for some extra advice. Whatever the reason, know that there are always services on campuses for counselling. Often these services also provide general relaxation workshops during finals. There’s a massage chair and stress ball somewhere waiting for you!
  1. Prioritize yourself and your time. You can’t do it all, so don’t put too much unnecessary pressure on yourself to try for the impossible. You come first. Sometimes that means sacrificing in some areas. Maybe your room will be messy for a week or so. Don’t sweat it. Maybe you’ll go over a bit on your dining out budget. You need to each and you don’t have time for much more than campus food. So be it! But do try and get enough rest and mental downtime. You are worth it!


  1. Jam to some upbeat tunes! I maked it myself!

  1. Forget all the previous hints and just join Rachel at this website with all the David Tennent gifs and photos you could ever want.


STS Extra Credit: Let us know what your go-to destressing tips are!

Share a Science Documentary Day

Science documentaries. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that you love them. You’ve watched both iterations of Cosmos; you’ve joined Stephan Hawkings on an exploration of the universe; you’ve learned about the rovers, landers, orbiters, and space stations exploring our solar system; you’ve experience Sr. David full-on gushing over a hedgehog. If I were to write a blog post trying to convince you to check out some of Sweet Tea Science’s favorite science documentaries, you would scoff because you are so on top of that. And that’s awesome! Seriously, let’s take a moment to appreciate our collective thirst for knowledge!

However, let’s not get so ahead of ourselves that we forget to share this excitement, enthusiasm, and thirst with others!

I have been inspired by a lovely evening out with my partner and his friend. We had been enjoying a few beers, and we got on the subject of education, intelligence, science, space and…well, you know how conversations can go. We eventually got on the subject of exploring our solar system and trying to understand the creation of the universe. Now, keep in mind that I love these kinds of conversations and could go on and on for a while. My comments are often prefaced with “I saw once in a documentary that…[insert science here]”. I was shocked to find that the friend had never heard of some of what we were discussing. It wasn’t that he didn’t have an interest in the topics, quite the opposite! He tried to write it off as us just being inherently smarter than him, but honestly, it was just a product of being an avid science documentary watcher. The knowledge is out there, I just Netflixed my way to it! I want others to know that they can too!

I am beginning to realize that there exists a set of people out there that are interested in exploring the sciences, but they don’t believe in themselves or don’t know what avenues to explore to help with their intellectual endeavors. This is where we come in. I’m going to assume that the majority of readers are here because they are totally into science. If we all independently hosts screenings of science documentaries and invite lots of our friends that might not normally choose such a film, then think of all of the science converts! I propose we
take this opportunity to organize. I nominate September 17th, 2014 as the first annual Share a Science Documentary Day!

This is a project that will require the help and support of the online scientific community. Science Side, I’m looking at you!

Your STS Homework:

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1. Share your favorite science documentary. You may do this in the comments here, on our Tumblr, or on your own social media outlet of choice! Be sure and tag us, @SweetTeaScience, so we can reblog/post/tweet you. Feel free to use the tag #SciDocuDay2014!

2. Host a Science Documentary Viewing on September 17th, 2014. Invite friends now and get people excited!

3. After your viewing don’t forget to try and start a dialogue. Talk about what you just learned and encourage others to share their impressions.  (Editor’s note: I think this would be a great time to talk about how to pick a documentary that isn’t bunk and how to be a skeptical consumer of information.  I mean, I love me some Netflix docus, but I’ve also quit some half way because…bunk.)

4. If you’d like, write up a little something about your event. What did you watch; did people enjoy it; would you host a similar movie night again, etc. We’d love to hear back and post your feedback on our blog or Tumblr!

Best of luck to everyone choosing a film to watch. Here might be a good place to start. We’ll keep you updated via tumblr about our own plans and movies that we choose to watch at our respective events! If you have any suggestions we’d love to hear them.

The Science Side of NYC

If you follow us on Tumblr, then you know I was away from my post at the beginning of August.  I traveled from the West Coast all the way over to New York City, New York to celebrate my engagement to that fella’ to the left.  I won’t take you through the blow by blow, but spending a lot of money on a ring just wasn’t our cup-o-tea.  Instead, we saved up and went on an adventure together to celebrate!  First, this is a decision I highly recommend because, hello, vacation.  Second, I hope you know I couldn’t go anywhere, even the maze of NYC, without scoring some science.  I know this city is just full of everything, so don’t consider this even close to an exhaustive list.  I would love to know about any of your favorite NYC science scores.

View from the Staten Island Ferry  

Most of my city going experience has been out west and in Chicago.  So one really special thing, for me, about seeing such an old city was the architecture.  I love that you can see a completely modern building with modern building materials and techniques right next to a church built in 1846!  Just look at that skyline.  You can learn by observation about changing technology as you look from the short, stone buildings to those shiny skyscrapers.  I’ll make my first tourist aside here to state that the Staten Island Ferry ride was both free and awesome.

Trinity church

You really have to admire NYC’s commitment to green spaces.  In such a densely populated urban center, I kept coming across parks, community gardens, and even an ecology center right on the walk home to our apartment.  The first park we really took the time to explore was the cemetery at Trinity Church.  Cemetery you say?  Yes.  Before the care and organization of public parks was formalized, cemeteries (or “memorial parks”) were some of the first public green spaces.  It was nice to see such a historic green area right next to such a historic building.  Some of the headstones were so old the inscriptions had completely weathered away.  

Graveyard at Trinity Church

Graveyard at Trinity Church

 From the oldest type of park, to one of the most famous.  Central Park was amazing.  It’s sheer size.  It’s location inside this huge metropolitan area.  It’s an impressive feat to be sure.  In the name of honesty, I have to admit that I was underwhelmed.  Maybe I was just tired, or maybe it was just that nothing was really in bloom when we visited.  Either way, I am fully prepared to be amazed by Central Park on my next visit (maybe during the fall season?).    

Central Park

You know what I was wow-ed by?  The American Museum of Natural History.  We spent 6 hours here, and I could easily have spent 6 days.  What a great museum!  We started off in the hall of North American Mammals, then on to the hall of West Coast Native Peoples.  Then we realized we had spent about 3 hours in two halls!  From there, we proceeded to crush the Human Evolution Exhibit (amazing.  wonderful.  on point.) and the Meteorite/Minerals hall.  I never ever expected this exhibit to feature the science behind crystalline bonding, but it did.  I know that Chelsea spent a summer at the AMNH doing space geology, so I thought about her the whole time I was losing my mind over the meteorites.  From there we buzzed through the hall of Marine Biodiversity before entering the hall of Vertebrate Origins.  I’m sort of an obnoxious ball of “Did you knows?” all the time, but I may have gone into overdrive when I saw all those amazing specimens.  Mammoth selfies ensued.        

   

We had grand plans to go to a few more museums, but it just didn’t pan out this time.  Always have to leave something to do on the next visit!  We did manage to make it to the Museum of Modern Art.  This is another great museum.  And though it is not an explicitly science based museum, I learned a few things that didn’t have to do with zips or color composition.  Mobile technology is changing lots of traditional experiences.  For example, free of charge, MoMA lends out iPod Touches containing free audio tours.  I really got a lot more out of my art museum visit as a result.  For example, I learned that the type of paint Picasso used was cheaper, because he was penny pinching, and that could be why some of the colors he used have been altred with time.    
Girl Before a Mirror, 1932
This brings us to my favorite find of the trip, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  I could wax rhapsodic about this space for quite some time.  I will sufice it to say that I loved it.  I wish I could return in the spring to see the cherry blossoms going.  And talk about affordable!  Even if you don’t want to shell out the $10 dollar admission fee (only $5 for students!), you can get in for free every Tuesday.      

Pollination

 I know I’m over selling at this point, but not only was this an amazing place to learn about botany and plant biodiversity, the buildings were a lesson in sustainability.  The visitor’s center had a green roof, which captured rain water and fed it into a nearby stream.  All the glass on that building was also bird safe (check the vertical stripes, birds can see that!), and they cooled their water efficiently by sending it underground.
 

Probably the coolest thing we saw in the gardens was this amazing piece of art. This sculpture was called “Sandy Remix” and it was made mostly  from garden trees killed during Hurricanes Sandy and Irene.  The trees are arranged to look like a swirling hurricane, and you can walk up into the tree house and, thus, into the eye of the storm.  The informational sign not only gave information about the art, but the importance of climate change and its impacts.  It was a very powerful experience, and a wonderful monument to remember the storm.

Last on my tour of NYC science and natures spaces was the High Line.  This excellent park is built on historic freight rail tracks elevated above the city streets.  It was high on my list of things to see due mostly to the amazing blending of natural and man-made items in this space.  There was a bit of cool interpretive information about which native plants were blooming at the time.  Overall, this place was a very peaceful way to take a walk uptown.       

 
I went to New York, I saw some amazing science related spaces and artifacts.  I know I must have missed some really good ones.  Go ahead!  Tell me what I should go and see next time I visit.  Also, if you have any interest in the hilarious amount of vegan food I ate or the less science-y side of my adventure, feel free to hop over to my Instagram.