7 Ideas To Relieve Students' Final Exams Stress

The atmosphere on campus has quickly changed and you've noticed! There are close to no party being thrown, the library has become the campus' hottest spot and coffee is man's best friend. Final exam period (or cramming week) has begun! Final exams affect all aspects of a student's life. Many students will now spend their time in solitary confinement and avoid all human contact for two weeks straight! These college kids currently feel the stress mount on their poor shoulders and student organizations have the power to have a positive impact on students' lives even during that period. How you ask?





1- PUPPY THERAPY

Puppy therapy is a phenomenon that's becoming increasingly popular on campus. Many universities, such as Emory University, McGill University and Harvard University, have been testing the impact of the presence of pets on college students during exam weeks. According to USA Today, "Research shows that interaction with pets decreases the level of cortisol — or stress hormone — in people and increases endorphins, known as the happiness hormone. Scant research exists on how pet programs on college campuses help students cope with stress."

This year, the University of Maryland Student Government Association is hosting its traditional Puppy Palooza 2012! They've invited puppies from A Forever Home Foundation, a non-profit dog rescue group in the Northern Virginia/Washington Metropolitan Area, to spend some time with students on campus on December 10th.


2- FREE YOGA CLASS

Vancouver Island University's Students' Union has organized a plethora of events to help their students go through the final exam period in a smoother manner. They have entitled this string of initiatives "Stress Busting Events". One of the events they've organized is a Free Yoga Class. Studies have proved that stress relief through the practice of yoga is believed to hold many health benefits. Students practicing yoga classes "have reported marked improvements in feelings of clear-mindedness, composure, elation, energy, and confidence".



3- FREE CHAIR MASSAGE

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Campus Recreation team decided to help students relax as part of their Massage Therapy Awareness Week earlier this year. They hosted many free therapeutic massage sessions for students to come in and zone out between classes and exams. An initiative like this would definitely attract many students who's bodies are being crushed under hours and hours of work.


4- 24-HOUR OPEN LIBRARY

It's not uncommon for students to simply skip bed time and burn the midnight oil hoping to get extra time to study. Knowing that you have the night to study can definitely help you cope with stress if you're unprepared. There are two ways student organizations can accommodate students who decide to spend the night on campus instead of counting sheeps. For one, you can lobby the library to keep some rooms of the library open overnight. The second option would have you keep the student centre open day and night and allocate some seats and tables for students to come in with snacks and work the night away! This is what the University of Winnipeg's Students Association (UWSA) has agreed to do this year. December 3rd-7th and 10th-14th are the dates they've decided to reserve for students. Choose your dates wisely as this can really be beneficial for students!


5- CAR SMASHING

Don't you sometimes just want to relieve tension and smash something? I know some students would love to. Well, another activity you can host on campus is an car smashing event. For example, the Engineering Students' Society of the University of Calgary hoped to relieve student stress during exams by hosting a car smash event this year. They allowed students to show up on their quad where they had an old Audi car and a sledge hammer waiting for them. There, students had the freedom to hit the car as hard and as often as they wished. The ESS of the University of Calgary also managed to raise money in the process! They held silent auctions for the smashing of the windshield, the rear window and for the side windows. Now, that's clever!


6- CANDY BAR

Students' food intake during cramming weeks is never the healthiest. It's snack diet! Candies, dried fruits, chocolate bars and chips are foods of choice for students just wanting to appease their stomach between the reading of two chapters. You can help them achieve their diet goals by setting up a snack bar on campus! This is what Grenfell Campus Students' Union are doing this year to satisfy students' sweet teeth. You can set this up either in the student center or outside of the library. Students will crave for those and will thank you for thinking this up.


7- ANYTHING FOR A SMILE

You should do anything to make students forget about their exams, even for a second. Getting students to crack smiles during this time period will be a hard sell but it's worth a try nonetheless. Good luck on your final exams!