As finals draw closer, the Student Engagement and Leadership Office invited students to color, make bracelets, watch a movie and eat snacks at a “Winter Destressland” event on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at The Loft in the Student Center.
The event, which featured the movie “Mary Poppins,” was aimed at giving students a place to relax and decompress at the end of the Fall 2024 semester.
Senior interdisciplinary illustration and animation major Kayla Wood, an involvement ambassador who was a co-leader of the event, explained the inspiration behind it.
“During this time, a lot of us are stressed out about finals and stuff like that. Also, self-care is very important about this time of year,” Wood said. They wanted to do “something really chill that allows students to do something with their hands, sort of engage their mind, but also at the same time, it’s like they’re learning how to take care of themselves.”
College stress levels have increased 30% in 30 years with one in five students reporting a persistence in the state of their stress, according to Transformation Education’s 2024 stress survey. The top factors that contributed were academics, finances, relationships and career prospects.
“With finals coming up, and just like the extensive workload of this week and next week, I needed a space where I could just come chill and not have to think about or focus on homework for a few minutes between classes,” said senior music major Jayla Forest.
Yemima Kedebe, a senior creative writing major with a concentration in poetry, said the Student Engagement and Leadership Office wants to help students know that it’s okay to pause.
“We want students to know that they matter, that before they are even students, they are people first and with this event, we just want them to know that it’s okay to take a break. Not only is it okay, it’s needed,” Kedebe said.
As a senior and student leader, Kedebe gave advice for other college students feeling overwhelmed in the last couple of weeks of school.
“I understand that it’s one of the busiest times of the semester, but it’s okay to take a break. It’s needed to take a break. Maybe go for a walk, if you like the cold. Eat your favorite snack,” Kedebe said. “Yes, it’s important to get things done. It’s great to be responsible, but it’s also important to be responsible for your well being, first, mental health first. And before you’re a student, you’re a human being first and foremost.”
Wood explained that destressing is so important because it guides students to be better at work without burning out in the first place.
“When it comes to having destress, it’s like you’re able to function better, especially when you’re having to deal with a lot of stuff on campus between school and work and personal life and everything,” Wood said. “So finding the time to take a break from your phone or take a break from homework, I think, is kind of what matters, because in the end, it’ll allow you to come back to that stuff more inspired wanting to hit it more powerfully than what you were doing before.”
Copy edited by Angel Marie Guevara
