Life can often feel like a repetitive cycle for students of waking up, heading to school and endlessly scrolling through social media before starting all over again. It is no surprise burnout can set in easily.
Partaking in interests allows you to disconnect from your phone and engage in something enjoyable and fulfilling.
A new hobby can be challenging, especially when looking for something that resonates rather than just jumping on the latest trends.
Art is a common hobby students and young adults can participate in to lower their stress by up to 75%. Forty-five minutes of creative activity, such as sketching or sculpture, significantly lowers cortisol.
“Some things in life never change and I think art is one of those things that people like to hold on to,” Coppell High School art teacher David Bearden said.
Grab a sketchbook and some pens. Whatever comes to mind, draw without thinking too much how it looks. This takes you into a space where you lose track of time.
“Drawing and painting is a skill so you have to practice it just like playing a sport or using an instrument,” Bearden said. “If I was young and had an interest in art, I would look toward tutorial videos or starting off by drawing and teaching myself.”
If you have a hard time sitting still or find yourself staring at a screen, table tennis or pingpong can be a workout that gets your heart pumping. It is fast and surprisingly intense.
Most community centers, local parks and social clubs have tables readily available for anyone who wants to play. Even if you do not have a partner, you can turn a table vertically to practice solo or bounce the ball against a wall to improve your control and develop consistency.
Regularly engaging in this sport helps hand and eye coordination. Many find that taking a short break to play helps sharpen their focus.
While crochet has long been recognized as a traditional method for crafting clothing, accessories and stuffed animals, it has recently been an accessible tool for stress relief.
“It’s really fun to be able to recreate the unique items that I see online,” sophomore Rika Okuda said. “I think some steps to start crocheting would be to watch some videos to get an idea about it.”
Getting started is easy and affordable. All that is required is a crochet hook and a ball of yarn from a local craft store. With thousands of beginner friendly tutorials available on YouTube, anyone can learn to craft items to keep, gift or even sell.
“Crochet helps with boredom, and it can give you something to do to pass the time while helping your brain stay in motion other than scrolling through social media all day.” Rika said.
Photography is less about the gear and more about how you see the world. It forces you to stop and notice the little things on how light hits a coffee mug or the way a shadow stretches on the sidewalk.
“You can use your phone camera to get started since we all have experience taking photos on our phones,” Commercial Photography teacher Brennan Fruge said.
Set a daily task to photograph something triggering a specific emotion or stands out because of its texture, color or symmetry. By treating your surroundings as a gallery rather than a backdrop, you begin to see beauty and new ideas in everyday life.
“Stop and slow down, think less about capturing that moment and more about how the visuals look,” Fruge said. “Compositional strategies that we teach in art classes translate into photography.”
Self-care and baking can come hand in hand by slowing down time. Baking gives you a chance to be creative by your choice of pastries or desserts, and the different fondants to make unique designs to express creativity and spark new ideas.
Many people use baking as a way to relieve stress. People can bake not just for themselves but for others and share their interest in baking to the world to sell or give as a generous gift.
A hobby gives you an identity that is not tied to your GPA or your job title. They give you something to enjoy and be outside of school. So, pick up the hook, the paddle or the camera to not be the best at something, but to be more you and to grow a creative mind.
Follow @CHSCampusNews on X.
