*Pictured are examples of the affirmation cards we made.*
This event was a discussion about stress on November 9th. We met in Saxe Hall and talked and then we also got to make decorations for the halls and doors. I wanted to do this event because it’s difficult for me to take time to look in on myself and figure out what’s best for me. I struggle to deal with my stress, and this was a great opportunity to talk about it and hear from others. It was nice to be able to make decorations in order to help others see the positive too. Many of us students are extremely stressed right now, and I think seeing the little notes helps a lot. At this event, we started by writing down everything that is currently a stressor. I personally feel that writing them all down helps a lot. Then you can focus on what you can change or what you can do to help it be less stressful. This also helped me realize that some things are out of my control, and I think that’s important to realize. After writing them down, we each introduced ourselves and chose to share one stressor from our list, if comfortable, and how we are working to cope with it. I personally chose to share about how much schoolwork has been stressing me out due to outside factors making it really difficult to keep up. I also shared that I rely on the weekends to relax or to help me catch up on work which helps me cope and forces me to give myself a break. This also helps me make it through the week because I always have a constant to look forward to. It was also really helpful that others shared their coping mechanisms too which gives me ideas on ways to try helping myself. After sharing, we worked on making cute little decorations. We wrote positive messages to put on dorm doors or on the wall in the hallway. I have couple of the notes pictured. We just wanted to find a cute way to encourage others to fight through the stress. We also had some stickers to add a little something to them. Some people used fancy handwriting; others used colorful crayons. In a way this activity was also a coping mechanism. Being able to take a second to sit down and just create pretty, positive messages helped me personally. I was able to take a step back and help others in a way that allowed me to relax. Then after we had made tons of these, we went to a floor with about two other people and just put them all over the hall. I learned a lot from this activity including the importance of encouraging others and trying new coping mechanisms. This activity allowed me to make a positive impact on other students in a simple way. This was a great activity to participate in when stressed out.
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