This week on South Loop TV: Get Mad: A DeStress event hosted by Student Engagement and Leadership, Columbia College’s new president, Green Thumb Gathering opens for the spring, and Co-Create Cafe, a student-led initiative for an open stress-free environment.
Watch the broadcast TV episode on YouTube.
TRANSCRIPT:
0:13: Welcome to South Loop TV in your ear.
0:16: Columbia College Chicago’s student run podcast bringing you the latest stories from our campus and beyond.
0:23: I’m Shawn Tumbokon-Flowers.
0:26: It’s Friday, March 21st, and here’s what we’re covering today. 0:31: “Get Mad,” an on-campus event centered around de-stressing.
0:36: Columbia College’s new president and now that it’s spring, a chance to show off your green thumb. 0:50: College life can be overwhelming, but this week, Columbia College students had a unique opportunity to let go of frustration in a healthy way.
1:00: As Ali Brenneman explains, the “Get Mad” event hosted by student engagement and leadership gave students a space to express their emotions through physical activities and therapy-based discussions.
1:14: Students were invited to release their rage at “Get Mad”, an event hosted by student engagement and leadership.
1:20: The event took place here at The Loft on Tuesday, March 18th, and aimed to allow students to release stress through physical activity and therapy talks.
1:29: Our goals for this event was basically to provide a safe and like fun, healthy space for people to come and vent their anger out through physical activity, you know, fun questions, and then, you know. 1:40: Kind of like that therapy talk of like getting things that they want off their chest.
1:44: Just being able to support within mental health, especially with the community and within campus, it’s a lot going on, even on and off campus, so we wanted to support with De-Stress Fest and be involved in the mental health process.
1:56: The event alternated between activities that allowed students to express their emotions in a more physical way and those centered around participants talking about their anger.
2:05: An activity many participants listed as a highlight was smashing a pinata full of angry letters participants had written earlier in the event.
2:13: So today at this event I had a great time like just in releasing all of the emotions that I had today. 2:18: I didn’t even know that I was really angry about a lot of things, so when we had the time to sit here and talk about it as a group.
2:24: It was really relieving just to attack the pinata for one and then just talk about what was going on with me and what I’ve been overthinking about for the past couple of weeks now.
2:32: So honestly, I think beating the pinata was really fun.
2:38: Like it was nice to write down like all the things that were actually frustrating me and then literally tear them up and beat the out of it.
2:47: I don’t know if I can say that, but I think like the pinata piece and like doing something physical about frustration and anger was really really helpful.
2:55: I believe it was a very successful event.
2:57: It was a great turnout.
2:58: Everybody seemed to enjoy their time.
3:00: everybody that left did confirm that they did feel a lot less stressed and they had the opportunity to“Get Mad.”
3:07: It was definitely great.
3:08: We all enjoyed it and I think the activities were way more surprising and even to us when we planned it, we did not expect for it to go like this and it was definitely a blast.
3:17: I think it was very helpful to our community and helpful to everybody on campus that joined us. 3:23: As part of De-Stress Fest, the event aims for students to leave less stressed and ready to tackle the rest of the week before spring break.
3:30: This is Ali Brenneman for South Loop TV.
3:33: After months of searching, Columbia College Chicago has officially named its next president. 3:41: Dr.
3:41: Shantay Bolton, former executive vice president at Georgia Tech, will step into the role, marking the end of the search for new leadership.
3:51: In an interview with the Columbia Chronicle, Bolton emphasized the need for a healing process at the college and expressed her excitement to engage with students.
4:03: She’s expected to make her first campus appearance at Manifest later this semester, with winter slowly transitioning into spring.
4:13: Columbia students got a chance to embrace the season through green thumb gathering. As Gerard Fogarty explains, it was all about gardening, environmental awareness, and stress relief.
4:26: While the weather in Chicago is infamously unpredictable, one thing is for certain: spring is just around the corner.
4:35: People like to welcome spring in all sorts of ways, like going outside, maybe doing a bit of spring cleaning.
4:41: Some even opt to garden.
4:43: Welcome to the Green Thumb Gathering, a peer educator program hosted by Student Diversity and Inclusion.
4:50: When I was kind of spitballing event ideas with my boss, he’s over there. 4:56: He’s that way, I was able to kind of put this together.
5:02: I’m glad that people came because I would be really sad if I had all this dirt for nothing. 5:08: yeah.
5:09: The event was held on Wednesday to help kick off spring with activities that centered around plants and gardening, the highlight being pot decoration.
5:18: I was invited by my good friend John, and it’s a really chill activity, you know, I’m not really big on planting, but it was just nice to try something new and, it was just fun to be a little artistic, painting, the vases and stuff like that.
5:30: But that’s not all the event had to offer.
5:33: Students also got an in-depth dive into Illinois’ roots, learning about the indigenous plants that call the region home, as well as the history humans have had with them over a 7,000 year period.
5:45: But the takeaway of this is these are all native plants.
5:49: We talk a lot about the historical changes in our state, the historical things around our land, so we have a little bit of an infograph about what the history of native environments in Illinois are like.
6:03: So as March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, rest assured the only living thing that won’t give you a hard time comes in a clay pot.
6:12: I named mine Vern.
6:13: From 618 South Wabash and for South Loop TV I’m Gerard Fogarty.
6:18: If you’re looking for a productive space to study and collaborate, Columbia Scholars Project is offering a unique opportunity with Co-Create Cafe.
6:30: The student-led initiative is designed to provide an open, stress-free environment where students can focus on assignments, share ideas, and improve their work with peer support.
6:42: For those seeking extra motivation, the cafe could be the perfect place to stay on track during midterms.
6:50: If you’re looking for extra academic support, Co-Create Cafe may be the place for you.
6:54: Hosted by the Scholars Project, the cafe offers a space for students to get organized and work. 7:00: The Scholars Project was created as part of Columbia’s Social Justice Initiative, and it aims to support students who identify as Black and Indigenous people of color, connecting them to resources and helping them identify their strengths.
7:14: Scholars Project started in 2021 as an additional support for students on campus who are BIPOC, and that’s Black and Indigenous people of color and the reason why it was started was as a part of the college’s Social Justice Initiative to provide additional support to all students with a focus on students from marginalized backgrounds.
7:34: So we started Co-Create Cafe because we found that a lot of students needed support with just. 7:38: Mirroring or body doubling when it came to getting work done and so a lot of students have shared that they have gone to tutoring, they’re going to their classes, but they just need a space to come and like actually get it done together.
7:49: So we created Co-Create Cafe as a way for students to come together but also get a little refreshment because being able to have a little snack with your peers often kind of fosters that community so students can stick around for a snack if they’re hungry in the.
8:03: middle of the day and then also get some stuff done together and if they need to schedule an appointment with academic advising or with myself as their Scholars Project mentor, then they can do that here and we can discuss whatever it is they need assistance with.
8:15: On Mondays and Tuesdays from 1 to 3 p.m. students can come to 623 South Wabash to work on assignments with community.
8:23: I’ve been kind of, you know, just stressed about like life and like what can I do.
8:27: To benefit myself as a person mentally and physically and until I came here and you know speaking to Chloe and all the other members of the scholars project it helped me lead myself onto the right track and that’s something I’m still trying to maintain now.
8:43: The cafe is open to all students to register, visit the events page or Engage. Reporting for South Loop TV,
8:49: I’m Cassidy Casanova.
8:52: That’s it for this week’s show.
8:54: Make sure to subscribe and stay connected for more updates on Columbia College news, events and student life.
9:02: I’m Shawn Tumbokon-Flowers.
9:04: See you next time on South Loop TV: In Your Ear.
9:11: If you like this show, check out our main broadcast, South Loop TV at the Columbia College Chicago School of Communication and Culture channel on YouTube.
9:20: This show is produced by Shawn Tumbokon-Flowers with music by Eric Matyas from Soundimage.org.
Copy edited by Patience Hurston
