The Oswego State Dean of Students office and Counseling Center are hosting several stress-relief programs during the last week of classes and into finals week to help students manage end-of-semester stress.

These events are a part of the campus Stress-Free Zone program, and includes candlelight yoga, therapy dogs, painting activities, planetarium events and massage therapy. The Counseling Center and the Dean of Students office said the events should be a fun way for students to decompress when students may feel the most academic pressure.

“It’s a hectic time for a lot of students, and just having things they can go to, either between studying to decompress, to prepare for a test. We’re running different events that can be useful for different people,” Kyle Dzintars, the outreach coordinator and a counselor for the Oswego State Counseling Center, said. “I think especially at this point in the semester for a lot of students going into exams, they’re figuring out where they stand in a class, they’re thinking ahead to the future. They want to do their best and I think that comes to a head at this point in the semester.”

Dzintars said students can experience stress differently. While some shutdown and struggle, others cut out other aspects of their life to focus on the source of their stress, with some just becoming overwhelmed by their impending deadlines.

“We tried to cover a wide range of events for people so some of these, like working with the Fitness Center, we’re taking into consideration physical activity. Doing yoga, maybe that’s more helpful for someone who needs that,” Dzintars said. “We’re also going to have mindfulness events that are about slowing down. Being calm, relaxed.”

The Dean of Students office is also offering a several events, with many focused on giving stressed students a creative outlet such as painting picture frames and decor that students can keep for their dorms or use for holiday gifts. Shelly Sloan, the health promotion coordinator with the Dean of Students office, said students respond well to craft events held in the past, particularly an event where students plant a succulent in a pot they decorate.

“The succulents have always been a huge hit, I don’t know what it is about the succulents but our students love them,” Sloan said. “We have the pots coming that you can color or paint and then seal in Mod Podge. Then we have succulents and dirt that you can replant in those pots.”

During the mid-semester self-care event, Sloan said the program had 160 succulents decorated by students.

If students do not manage their stress in a healthy way, according to Sloan, they can suffer from short-term problems as well as cause long-term damage to their bodies.

“Stress can affect students in many ways, I think the biggest thing is stomach aches, they can’t sleep, anxiety, it can cause people to not eat at all or overeat depending on how they deal with stress,” Sloan said. “Some stress is really good though, some stress is great. The stress of getting married, or buying a home or graduation. Those kinds of things are good stress because they can motivate you, but then if you have too much stress or a lot of stress at once, it can do a number on your heart, it can cause so many health issues.”

According to Sloan, students may feel pressure in their academic life, the holiday season, moving back home and their personal life that can also contribute to stress this time of year. Sloan said she understands the pressure students are under, as she attended Oswego State as well.

“I know when I was a student here, and I was an RA, I just remember trying to get my classes finished, take my finals, get through graduation, check out my residents, pack myself, that alone was a lot of stress,” Sloan said. “Coupled with any personal things students are dealing with, which everyone is dealing with personal stuff too, that can really heighten stress.”

According to Sloan, students may feel pressure in their academic life, the holiday season, moving back home and their personal life that can also contribute to stress this time of year. Sloan said she understands the pressure students are under, as she attended Oswego State as well.

“I know when I was a student here, and I was an RA, I just remember trying to get my classes finished, take my finals, get through graduation, check out my residents, pack myself, that alone was a lot of stress,” Sloan said. “Coupled with any personal things students are dealing with, which everyone is dealing with personal stuff too, that can really heighten stress.”

Both Dzintars and Sloan agreed that students need to take care of themselves when studying for finals, as missing sleep and skipping meals to cram for tests can hurt test performance more than being unprepared.

“It is really easy for students to put their basic needs aside for the sake of studying more or completing a project,” Dzintars said. “I know it is counter-intuitive in some ways to choose sleep over another hour of late-night studying, but realistically, students do better on tests when they get more sleep.”

To help encourage mindfulness and restfulness, Sloan is planning to offer sleep aids like masks and essential oil sprays at some programs.

“We know our students aren’t sleeping, let’s face it,” Sloan said. “We know, nationally, our students aren’t sleeping. We have survey data here that says our students aren’t sleeping. I’m sure the quality of sleep isn’t good. So we need to figure out how we can teach our students about that.”

Stress-Free Zone events begin during the week of Dec. 2 with most events located in the Penfield Library and Marano Campus Center room 133. Information on individual events will be posted online soon and flyers are expected to be posted on campus detailing the program schedule.

Graphic by Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian