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The Easter holidays at University is never really a holiday. The three weeks are usually spent desperately revising for upcoming exams or finishing essays for looming deadlines. It’s probably the most difficult break of your University year. I never usually go home for it, I tend to spend it locked in my room panicking about the final term. This year however, I went home for a week to spend some time with my family and have a break.

When I was at home my Mum and I were talking about all the fun things we used to do when I was little. One of which would be to go to the lambing at a local farm. So to de-stress from dissertation worry, we visited a farm in Bedfordshire. When we arrived it became very clear that most people who were there to cuddle the new-born lambs were not over the age six. So at twenty-one years old I put my floral wellies on and proudly walked into the barn.

Now, I love animals. So when I got in there, I was so happy to see the line-up of haystacks you could sit on, get passed a lamb and cuddle away. The lambs you could hold were all different colours and would happily sit there in your arms until you chose to hand it back. I may or may not have stolen a little black and white lamb off a five year old and I refuse to feel guilty about it – third year is very difficult! While my Mum and I cuddled baby lambs and my Mum recited everything she has ever learnt about sheep from Country File. One of the farmers could see I was so happy, she let me bottle feed one of the lambs she had proudly named David. And yes, I did only give the bottle to a little girl standing next to me when my Mum ordered me to. All my stress that had been building and the fear of the next six week of frantic typing and late night library trips began to just disappear and for once I didn’t feel guilty about avoiding work.

Easter is such a great time of year; as the flowers begin to bloom and the crème eggs are on constant sale in the shops. It’s easy to just hide in your room and let stress take you over while you angrily munch on a full sized chocolate egg. But sometimes the best stress relievers are sitting in a barn filled with hay and are baa-ing loudly at you. So next Easter try and de-stress by heading to your local farm for lamb cuddles and maybe a £1 tractor ride!