Video games relieve stress

There are many ways to relieve stress but some students at Norwich turn to video games.

Kyle Rau, 19, a sophomore history major from Oak Creek, Wisc., said, "I have been playing video games for a long time since I was like 10 and it is a good way to relax and just chill."

Playing video games is a great way to save money and spend time with your friends according to Rau.

"In my spare time playing computer games just was not cutting it when you want something to do," Rau said. "Also your buddies can come over and play games so you have something to do that does not require going out and spending money."

Everybody needs time to unwind and video games make that possible, according to Rau.

If students have good time management then playing video games will not affect their grades, Rau said.

"It depends on how much you play and if you are able to control how much you play and get your homework done first," Rau said. "Sometimes it does not work out that way. Sometimes you do not get your homework done but for the most part if you're good academically you should be able to handle it."

Steven Ellie, 19, a sophomore mechanical engineering from Almond, Wisc., said, "I have been playing video games a long time since I was 9 or 10 years old. I started playing mostly for fun and to take my mind off of stuff and I really enjoy playing them."

Challenging majors and classes make students stressful and video games help take away that stress according to Ellie.

"My major is really stressful and if you do not watch yourself you will end up like some people only getting two hours of sleep at night just constantly doing homework," Ellie said. "So when you have some free time and you want to take the edge off you play a little bit of video games so you basically just do not go crazy"

"Gets you mind away from thinking about integration or circuits or whatever class you're taking so you can take a break, recharge and go back to homework and hit the ball running and get it done."

Richard Sarmiento, 19, a sophomore computer security major from Alexandria, Va., said, "I have been playing video games since I was 5, I had older kids in the house that were my aunts and uncles so I played with them."

Free time and online classes are the main reason for playing video games according to Sarmiento.

"I have a lot of times on my hands being that a lot of my classes are online and I just have a lot of time to goof off," Sarmiento said. "So playing video games kills a lot of time on the weekends and it is a good stress reliever during the day"

Being interactive and hanging out with your friends is what makes video games different from other stress relievers, according to Sarmiento.

"It is different than watching a movie, it is different than going outside and taking a walk. It's just something that you can have a bunch of people over and they like to do it to so it also brings people into your room," Sarmiento said.

Finding balance is essential so as not to get behind on academics, according to Sarmiento.

All upperclassmen in the corps should be able to have an Xbox, according to Sarmiento. "You are allowed to do whatever you want as a sophomore and there should not be restrictions on having an Xbox or anything like that."

Kevin Horold, 19 a business management major from Niskayuna, N.Y., said, "I have probably been playing video games for about half a year since there is nothing else to do here on campus."

Boredom and lack of campus activities are the reasons he plays video games.

"I still get all my homework done so there is no negative or positive effect," Horold said.