Besides Thanksgiving Break granting each of us a relaxing, temporary hiatus before we head into…dun, dun, dun….Finals Week, it can be tough to find events or activities that will take our minds off of the massive stress that bombards each of us at the end of the semester.
Between studying, extracurricular duties, and calculating what you need to get on that final to scrape by with an A, some of us don’t even have time to rest.
However, a few on-campus groups and the Department of Student Affairs understands the next few weeks will be grueling for students, so they organized various de-stressing events and activities.
In my opinion, one of the best activities held is Pet Playtime at the Reitz Union. During Finals week, a small booth is set up in the colonnade of the Reitz Union where students can go and hold various types of smalls animals like puppies or kittens. C’mon, who doesn’t love puppies? They’re referred to as “therapy pets” and are brought in by Animal People Inc. to provide a warm, cuddly break from pencils, papers and computers. Picture yourself playing with a highly energetic golden retriever puppy with it’s little blonde tail wagging. It’s guaranteed you will forget about school and any other worries as your mind overloads on how ecstatic your puppy encounter is making you. With the colonnade gone this semester, my guess is that puppy-central is going to be somewhere over at the Reitz Breezeway this time around, so be sure to remember to head over there for a quick break when you’re feeling the study heat.
Library West is a huge hotspot for students of all kinds of majors to study. With a large amount of tables, meeting rooms, computers and a Starbucks downstairs, it has everything readily available to get some serious studying done. It also holds small video game tournaments and free-play sporadically throughout the last few months of the semester. They usually make an announcement when the tournaments will start and games are typically something that everyone knows about or can pick up, like Super Smash Brothers. Winners up to usually 5th place all get some sort of trinket as a prize, like a UF-themed pillow or shirt. The local trade-in game shop, R U Game over on Williston Plaza, also stops by with some of the newest releases for people not wanting to commit a tournament to play with. It’s just a small, amusing break in the library for everyone to enjoy…plus there’s free pizza.
Throughout the semester, U Matter, We Care makes it a top priority to reach out to students in need, whether it be bullying, depression, or just general college stress. However, once finals begin to approach, U Matter, We Care members kick into second gear in their efforts to make UF a happy campus. They’ll typically perform small little acts of kindness, like handing out lollipops to the people studying. In addition, they do their best to encourage others to “pay it forward” and perform random good deeds of their own for their fellow students. You’ll see the members all around campus, smiling and waving to people and generally just being pleasant to be around. The group plays an enormous role in much of the de-stressing on campus.
College can be tough, and finals week just makes it all the tougher. Going headfirst into studying and never coming up for a breath of fresh air is not a healthy way to tackle your academic hurdles. So be sure to take part in some or all of these activities and events so you can study hard, but studied smart.
Good luck everyone!
Photo courtesy of: Baga
