This blog is an archived post written by Celeena during her 3^rd year in the Environmental Management stream.

 

 

 

Sometimes we get stressed, feel like we need a break, and need a little time to have some fun and relax. At the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES), the Peer Mentors and the Bachelor of Environmental Studies Student Association (BESSA) hosted a De-Stress day on November 15^th for anyone who felt like they needed it. There was cotton candy being made, painting, colouring, a movie showing, cookies, pop, and new people to meet and talk to!

We would usually have popcorn at de-stress day (the machine broke so we didn’t get popcorn) BUT we had a cool cotton candy machine! Students AND Faculty members stopped by to enjoy some delicious and addicting cotton candy, and some stayed to watch a movie and eat some cookies.

As mentioned, BESSA and the Peer Mentors hosted the De-Stress day. The Peer Mentors are upper year students in FES who support all other FES students with questions about classes, assignments, places on campus, and they also plan events like the De-Stress Day! BESSA is a student organization and club dedicated to addressing the needs of FES students and they are also a body that plans events like karaoke nights!

But let's talk more about the reason we hosted this event: STRESS. It is important, as a student (or anyone really), to take a break when you feel like you need one. Stress is common and it's not always something we can hide from or ignore. In some cases, stress may help us to perform better. When I realize that I have a deadline for an assignment coming up soon, I would usually freak out about it for five minutes, but then immediately get working on it! Continuous and extreme stress however is not healthy and can lead to many serious health issues.

There are many ways to de-stress like being active (going to the gym or playing a sport), meditating, or eating healthy. These are just a few, but in the end it depends on what you like! For me, I attend many, many, MANY live concerts, festivals (if I can afford it) or live comedy shows, check out new restaurants (because food), or even just staying in to watch Netflix, put a face mask on, eat a large slice of double chocolate cake, and relax in bed. This is also why we do these types of events here at FES and York University in general! Sometimes you are not even aware that you're stressed out so you may not take the time to relax, but seeing these types of events happening in plain sight would allow you to take the chance and participate.

Here at York, we have many student services catered towards counselling and mental health wellness including Student Counselling and Development which is a support unit to help students realize, develop and fulfill their personal potentials. Students can use this resource to talk about stress, anxiety, relationship issues, depression, just to name few. You are not alone! As an international student I often would feel incredibly homesick during the winter (winter blues), or I would just miss my mom's cooking sometimes! Having friends and great people around me helped me to overcome this, which is why getting involved with groups like the Peer Mentors and BESSA was actually a great way of de-stressing for me too.