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What you listen to can relieve stress during midterms

Multiple students listen to music as they're completing their assignments in the library, which is open 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Closed Saturday and 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. For updated operating hours, visit https://cpp.libcal.com/hours/. Kayla Landers | The Poly Post

By Kayla Landers, October 14, 2025

Thirty percent of students, due to academic pressures, reported feeling overwhelmed, depressed or sad, according to the American Psychological Association, but this percentage only grows during midterms because of the high-stakes nature of the tests, increased workload and self-doubt.  

To cope with stress, students often search for outlets to either forget about it or put it aside. In today’s digital age, music is proving to be one of the best means to find a sense of calm.  

Listeners can look up keywords on Spotify and Apple Music, such as “relaxing mix.From there, a playlist is curated with songs similar to past listening patterns. These playlists are subjective and reflect the listening history and the mind of the user, making them more personalized. 

Ambient, classical, lo-fi and jazz music tend to be the most listened to genres when relieving stress. However, everyone has different preferences when it comes to what works best for relaxation.  

“My go-to playlist is my instrumental mix that Spotify made me,” biology student Romina Garcia said. “It’s modern music but without the lyrics. I picked this one because it allows me to get my assignments done, which relieves my stress.” 

Humans connect memories to countless things, and in this case, it is quite common for individuals to associate music with the experiences they went through. Implicit memories are those formed passively while listening to music in the background. When the same song plays again, it triggers a response in our brain that replays the memory associated with it. 

For example, Assistant Professor of Music Dr. Kevin P. Green does not find classical music to be relaxing because he associates the genre of music with his childhood, and so many of the songs have a considerable amount of variation to them. Whether it’s the length of the piece, the different feelings being conveyed during the duration of the piece or the dynamic levels of the sound during the piece, he feels there’s too much going on.  

Apple Music creates personalized, calming playlists for users based on their listening histories. Kayla Landers | The Poly Post

He instead turns to ambient music because he has encountered it throughout his life, and its relaxing effects have stuck with him.  

Architecture student Jarod Cuarto found the song “Upside Down” by Jack Johnson to be relaxing because it reminded him of his childhood. The song he chose is neither classical nor ambient, but is what he associates with relaxation and peace

Cuarto is aware music can affect his mood, and he uses this to his advantage by listening to happy music to cheer himself up.  

Garcia said the music she listens to often reflects the different sides of her personality. Sometimes it shows how fun she is as a person, but it also helps her connect with others on a deeper level.  

Regardless of the genre, if the listener finds the music to be relaxing, science has proven both adrenaline and cortisol levels of an individual will diminish, sparking a calmer state of mind.  

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