A recipe for stress relief

Glee seems to have completely taken over the college student's television airwaves on Wednesday evenings. Facebook statuses are Glee-related, it becomes a trending topic on Twitter and the songs from the show (sung by the cast, of course) quickly rise to the top of the iTunes best-selling songs list. Why does Glee have the effect it does?

Television shows in general can provide an escape. A March 2007 USA Today article told a story of how some Iraqi citizens use box DVD sets of American TV shows to "escape the violence and stress of the streets outside."

That could be the reason American college students escape into TV shows, although not to escape violence, but stress.

Even though most studies seem to point to TV being detrimental to one's life in general (it takes away from quality time with family and friends, etc.), it seems that to the college student, it may be beneficial.

As any busy student will attest, there is not enough time in the day to get everything done. Well, there is, but if there is even a hint of procrastination involved, then the work will not get finished. And what happens when it's crunch time? People panic. They panic, freak out and frantically work to finish. Eventually, the work is finished, but the student is still wound up from all the effort they exerted, and they need a way to wind down. TV is sometimes the perfect solution.

In my opinion, Glee is a great stress-reliever (for me, at least) because the music just makes me feel good. In the show's pilot, their cover of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" sent chills down my spine, and even now, whenever I need a quick break, I take a few minutes to listen to it, and I instantly feel better.



So, my recipe for stress relief for all students (high school, college, graduate...any student): Glee. Try it out. Chew it over.