The self-care workshop last Saturday involved a topic relevant to every Cornell student….STRESS! Balancing prelims, assignments for other classes, extracurriculars and a social life, stress is bound to make an appearance in your life somehow. Honestly, I didn’t really plan on going to the workshop, I figured I would reduce the stress in my life by starting to study for my prelim later in the week instead. It was ironic, but I would up going to the self-care workshop in the Rose library and I am sooo happy I did!
GRF Sarah had some great tips about dealing with stress like exercising, socializing and using mental health resources on campus. During the week, I found myself using a lot of these tips to deal with the stress from my prelim except that I vented more to my roommate and best friend than a counselor. Finally what better way to deal with stress than carving a pumpkin!!! I only carved one other pumpkin in my life before and I found it so difficult so my dad wound up taking an electric saw and cutting the pumpkin for me. (So I guess I never really carved a pumpkin before!) It was really nice just taking time out of my day to relax, talk to other Rose scholars and carve a really cool pumpkin (see the picture below)! I found it carving the pumpkin to be much easier than the last time I tried and I think my pumpkin carving skills speak for themselves with the picture attached. Overall, I loved the workshop and I got to take the pumpkin back to my suite to decorate our common room for Halloween. Unfortunately, the pumpkin started to mold and decompose in our living room so I had to throw it out about five days later but at least the self-care tips are staying with me for longer.