Editor,

In honor of midterms, my favorite places to cry on campus ranked:

1. Center for academic program support (CAPS): look, I have taken out student loans, so I love utilizing my on-campus resources to their fullest extent. This is why I love crying in the tutoring center. Not only do they have drop in hours for me to come by and cry about organic synthesis, I can also make an appointment where I can cry one on one with a fellow undergraduate student who has previous experience crying over the same STEM courses.

2. Zimmerman Library -- couches on the main floor, by the printers: This is the closest you can get to an actual bed on campus. If you are lucky enough to grab one of these during peak study hours (which is basically all day every day), lay your sad self out on the yellow-plastic pleather and cry those eyes out. Chances are, the people in the booth next to you are doing one of two things: also crying, or running into every single person they have ever met and screaming.

3. Biology Building Basement: they have a velvety couch down there now. This is an ideal location to cry after your computer crashes and you lose hours of data processing. You may Excel at statistical analysis, but could improve on saving your work along the way. Bury your face.

4. Science Math Learning Center bathrooms: they are usually pretty clean and also heated. This is good for a mid-lecture/lab cry. Often our peak-overwhelm comes during lecture/lab, luckily the SMLC bathroom is a safe space for your tears and post-cry dissociation. After your class, treat yourself to a bag of Cheetos from the vending machines in the front lobby, you’ve earned it. You’ve got this.

Places I do not suggest crying:

- The Duck Pond: it feels like a bad idea to expose your vulnerability to birds.

- The Atrium/second floor of the Student Union Building: it smells like yeast (I’m looking at you, Subway) and it is too loud. 0/10 would not recommend cathartic crying in this location.

I have been at UNM for three years pursuing my undergraduate degree in biology and chemistry. There are a plethora more places I have cried, and am planning to cry in the future. In all seriousness, I encourage you to take care of yourself this week despite the high stress and volume of tasks. If you’re reading this, I implore you to take a deep breath, you can do it. Prioritize your sleep (no, coffee is not a replacement for sleep, sorry), make sure you’re eating and drinking enough. Good luck on your exams, and remember that your performance on exams does not dictate who you are as a person.

Lauren Sarkissian