The second year of the Mindfulness & Cultural Development course was different from the first because it was no longer a new activity. I knew what meditating was like and I understood what each meditation was. I was able to focus more and concentrate. Some of that came because there was more stress last year, but mostly because I knew what was coming. I understood the separate meditations, such as the one where we single out our thoughts and put them into bubbles, or my favorite, the chocolate meditation where we actually took the time to feel and taste something that I usually would think nothing of before.

The second year of the course was more helpful for me though because I was stressing about college essays and applications, as well as many school projects that were coming due. Sitting down for about an hour, if not completely, somewhat relieved that stress from my back and I had time to think about other things.