Smash
Stress relief, one swing at a time
By: Stacia Doss
Issue date: 12/8/09 Section: News
|
To help students cope with the stress of finals and raise funds, Stonewall Tigers, a gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual community rights organization on campus, hosted "Whack-A-Car."
Students could take three swings at the worn, green and orange spray-painted car parked beside RP Tracks Restaurant and Bar near campus with a sledgehammer, baseball bat, golf club or crowbar for $1.
"While hitting the car, I thought about the teachers, papers and the exam stress," said Pedro Davis, sophomore hotel and resort management major. "This was a good way to fight the stress without actually harming anybody."
Joshua Edwards, freshman criminal justice major and secretary of Stonewall Tigers, said the event helped students relieve the tension built up by holidays and finals.
"It was the chance to get away from that stress and life in general," Edwards said.
"What better (way) of relieving stress than to do it straight into the side of a vehicle that's not yours?"
The car belonged to the sister of Ashley Smith, president of Stonewall Tigers. After she and her sister realized paying for repairs would cost more than the car's worth, they decided to use it as a fundraiser for the organization.
Many students said that the experience was too good to pass up.
"For $1, I couldn't not afford it," said Stephanie Cook, junior sociology major. "Hitting the car felt great and liberating."
With the country entering the urgency of the holiday season and finals quickly approaching for students, many people are finding their own ways to cope with the stress.
For some students, like Drew Hill, junior computer engineering major, video games are a great way to relieve stress.
Other students, like Erica Nason, junior communications major, said they find the week before finals to be the most stressful but cope in other ways.
"Last-minute work is what stresses me, and I try to cope with it by practicing good time management," she said. "Music is the major way I handle my stress, though."
In addition to Stonewall Tigers, other organizations on campus have offered ways for students to relax.
Active Minds, an organization dedicated to educating students about mental health, held an event last Friday for students to cope with upcoming stress. The program offered free food as well as massages and a variety of brochures to alert students about mental health and stress.
Brandy Hunter, founder and president of Active Minds, said that the purpose was to raise awareness in the difference between "normal stress" and "anxiety disorder" and to direct students to other resources on campus.
The University's Career and Psychological Counseling Center offers information and resources for students handling stress. During this time of the year especially, faculty at the center encourage that students come in and speak with someone about the tension building up from finals.
"We know from experience that our traffic does increase around this time," said Lorna Horishny, administrative secretary at the counseling center.
"We will see people at a walk-in basis for acute stress, and we want students to remember that we're always here," she said.
For information regarding stress, students can visit or contact someone with the Career and Psychological Counseling Center at 214 Wilder Tower.