Finding the Oasis

There is no lack of anxiety this time of year for college students. Just look at the posts below me – everyone is stressed about finals, cramming all the content from the past 15 weeks or so into our heads for that last exam, putting the final touches on that months-long project, getting the final details for that 20-page research paper. But between the seemingly endless trips to Starbucks for overpriced coffee, the latenight Domino's orders to your study room and the 10-hour sleep schedule – for the entire week, not night – it's important to find that place to unwind, to forget for five or ten minutes about everything else.

A couple weeks ago, a couple friends and I took a stroll from my apartment down M Street into Georgetown. Instead of staying along the area congested by tourists that walk too slow for my liking, we cut up 28th Street into the residential area. After wandering through some streets lined with rowhouses tightly packed together like sardines in a can, we wound up at the Dumbarton Oasis, or Montrose Park.

It was almost unnatural to me, finding a place so natural in the city. It's the hidden gems of D.C. like this that I forget exist when I'm consumed in the bubble of Foggy Bottom and the constant tick of school. And this was only a ten minute walk from where I sleep every night. I reminded me a lot of Central Park, except this was a lot more shut off from the world. It was a few minutes of pure serenity. No cars. No sires. No people, except my friends and the casual jogger.

I think finding a place like this is vital for a college student, particularly one studying in a city where there isn't a huge quad or park to escape to during the school day. Just like our days spent waking up, going to class, seeing friends, doing activities, doing homework, going to bed and repeat, the world keeps spinning and time keeps moving. But that doesn't mean we as students can't take a few minutes out of the day to make the world stop for a minute.

Find the time for you. Find what makes life pause, and spend some time there.

-Matthew Kwiecinski