For students, stress right before finals week is common — trying to remember everything one has learned throughout the semester, fighting against little sleep to try and get all the information remembered right before the test.   

It feels like a never-ending cycle of struggling, with seemingly no end in sight.   

Students have little time but try everything to relieve some of the stress and pressure with little to no avail.  Some organizations at Gannon University recognized this as an issue and decided to provide activities on campus to take some stress off.  

Gannon’s Active Minds organization, working with the Health and Counseling Center and the Recreation and Wellness Center, will host a Stress Less Week, the week before finals. 

The event will run from April 25 to the 29 and the times for each day will vary.  Monday and Thursday’s events will occur from 5-7 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday’s events will be from 4-6 p.m.  All events will take place either at the North Hall parking lot or at the Recreation and Wellness Center. 

Claire Smith, a graduate assistant for fitness at the Recreation and Wellness Center, said that this year, the program would feature massages, therapy dog yoga, aromatherapy crafts and a variety of snacks, as well as fun activities and raffle baskets from the Health Center, Active Minds and the Counseling Center, the Nash Library, the Store U-Knighted and APB. 

These types of events are meant to get students out of their dorms and out of the library study rooms and forget about the stress just for a little while.  

While these events are meant to be fun, they are also just as important to educate students about mental health and the need for taking a break from classes.  

Georgios Koutroulis, a junior accounting and entrepreneurship major and vice president of Active Minds, spoke about Active Minds and what the organization will be doing during the event.  

“We will be available to speak to students about mental health, school and anything else,” Koutroulis said. “We will also have fun activities on our table to further entertain the student body.” 

Active Minds will be there not only to host the event but to also provide advice students might need.  

Koutroulis also stressed the importance for the university to host these types of events near finals week. 

“It shows that the student body is heard, and that people understand how stressed we are towards the end of the semester,” Koutroulis said. 

 MOLLY BEGEMAN

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