Relaxation Room brings relief to students stressed over midterms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Lauren Alford

Staff Writer

While making stress balls and buttons, listening to ASMR and coloring in a quiet environment, students were able to take their minds off of schoolwork and stressful midterms.  

The Relaxation Room was open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12 at the Dwight Marvin Library, Room 14.

Less structured than the Wellness Center, the Relaxation Room offered students the opportunity to participate in quiet activities, listen to ambient music and enjoy light snacks.

Of the various activities prepared for the students, coloring was the most popular. Students used colored pencils to fill in coloring books that they could rip out of.

Another activity for students to participate in was making stress balls from rice and balloons. They even used a button press to create their very own buttons.

According to the attendees, the temporary room was much appreciated.

“It’s nice to have a place to just sit down and relax,” Andrew Jones, an environmental science major, said.

Jones and his friends decided to visit the room after seeing a sign near the library’s entrance. He said it looked like a fun way to pass the time.

“[My friends and I] have a break every Tuesday that’s obscenely long,” he explained. “We saw a sign and were like, ‘coloring’s dope, let’s go do it.’”

Drew Garbarini, liberal arts major, also became aware of the relaxation room through an advertisement on a sign. They originally decided against visiting, but later changed their mind. After visiting the Relaxation Room, Garbarini felt that the quality of their day was improved.

“I feel less stressed already,” Garbarini said. “I still didn’t get any sleep, but now I feel that sleep is a possibility.”

Colleges and universities nationwide are helping students unwind by creating on-campus spaces. Hudson Valley Community College’s own Relaxation Room was influenced by these examples.

“Other libraries do something similar around finals week and midterms,” Anne Rappaport, Library Outreach Specialist and event coordinator, said.

Fresh out of university, Rappaport has been in her position for six months. On Tuesday, she was looking for ways to improve future Relaxation Rooms. She discussed the possibility of a more permanent option.

Students in attendance were divided on the idea of a permanent Relaxation Room. Some were happy to have a location for stress relief.

“Even if it was once a week, that’s so much stress taken out [of the week],” Garbarini said.

Some other students feared the room’s ambiance would be impacted negatively.

Jones agreed with Garbarini, but wasn’t sure about making the room more known. He explained that a permanent room would allow more people to attend, maybe too many.

“As lovely as this is, I’m sure that if you had 40 people that wanted to be here it would be a little less relaxing,” Jones said.

For computer information student, Jasmin Kostka, other forms of stress relief would do better than visiting a relaxation room throughout the year.

“I would talk to a counselor,” she said. “It’s good to let it out to a counselor because it’s more helpful [to relieve stress] that way.”

Most students, however, would like to see a relaxation room year round.

“Every college should have one,” Seh Meh, a criminal justice major, said. “This proves that the college is thinking about how students are doing.”