Swem Stress Relief Center

What? There is one of those? I know it’s hard to believe because stress lives on all three floors of Swem Library, especially the third which is too quiet for my taste. However, in the basement of Swem lies the solution to all problems, well at least for a little while.

Though I am revealing one of the most coveted secrets of my junior year, I feel compelled to share this little known fact with you. In the basement, there is a media center where you can book a studio equipped with microphones and recording software.

My friends use it to record our lovely voices to all types of songs, from country to Disney to rap and R&B.  It is hilarious and great stress relief. Who knew singing was so much fun. Sometimes we sounded good but most of the time we sounded not so good. We still have those tracks in our iTunes and every once in a while it will play and I just smile.

There is bonding between those laughs. You learn about background sounds that you never heard in the original song—because nine times out of ten they do not exist. You learn that half your friends really can hold a tune and if you all really tried, you all could sound phenomenal. However, it is a lot more fun if it sounds horrible, not record label worthy. So, what usually happens is you mess up and try to hit the high notes of Mariah Carey just because you will surely get a chortle or two. We had good times in Swem’s basement…now it is time to make your own good times.