Stressed-out students find different modes of support

Finals week brings stress to many University students -- so it's not surprising that this is the time of year is when support networks between students and their friends and family become more necessary.

- Joyce Illfelder-Kaye, associate director for CAPS

But the support systems of friends during finals week aren't always easy to come by, Illfelder-Kaye said. Many times, friends of students have an equally heavy finals workload, she said, and therefore may be self-involved.

"People are preoccupied with their own pressure and probably less preoccupied with their friends," Illfelder-Kaye said.

Consideration of friends and their stress during finals week, she said, can be the best kind of support one friend can give another.

"It is helpful to have a dialogue between friends and roommates where each person can talk about what they need during this time period," she said. "(And) obviously trying to be considerate of the kind of pressure someone is going through is important."

Illfelder-Kaye said support of both friends and family during finals week is important because both offer different kinds of it. Families, she said, are usually more sensitive because they are not feeling the pressures of finals. For that same reason, they may not be able to completely understand these pressures either, she said. Friends, on the other hand, have their own stress to consider and may not be as doting, but at the same time, they have a greater understanding of the stress level during finals week, Illfelder-Kaye said.

"So it's kind of a trade-off," she said.

"It's a time for (students) to come hang-out, relax and relieve stress," said Peggy Smeltzer, a staff assistant for the Office of Residence Life, who has helped to organize some of these stress-alleviating activities. Theme-related food nights every evening during finals week from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Waring Commons are part of the planned pressure-relief events on campus.

Eating may be a pressure outlet for some, but for Sigma Kappa sorority, 2 Stone, socializing is the most effective and important stress buster. For this reason, Kristin Schrader (junior-political science) organized a study break in the sorority's suite.

"We do it every semester," she said. "It's kind of a tradition."

The traditional Sigma Kappa sorority study break, Schrader said, involves food consisting of bagels, cream cheese and juice, but most importantly, friends and social interaction.

"It's kind of like a stress reliever, just to take a break and get something to eat . . . (but) it's more like a little social break, too," Schrader said.

Parents are also getting in on the student support network action. The Association of Residence Hall Students runs a program that allows parents to lend support during exam week to their children. Earlier in the semester, parents were sent sign-up cards that they could fill out and send back to ARHS to order either a fruit basket, an exam survival kit or both for their child.

Jolaine Gravish, the fund-raising department head for the ARHS, said the sign-up cards serve as a greeting card for the family members to write a special message of encouragement to the student. Gravish said the messages range anywhere from "good luck" to "go, go, 4.0," which was a message written on one card last year.

The basket has a dual purpose, Gravish said. It provides support for the student and it provides a little snack during a time when many students forget or don't have time to eat.

"This provides a little bit of positive encouragement on (the student's) way to finishing that final home stretch," she said.