Last week I arrived at the Rose library ready to sit down for an hour and listen to some tips on living a healthy and happy life. When I walked in, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the tables were covered in pumpkins and carving tools. I quickly looked around to check if I was in the right place and, when I was assured I was, I found a seat alongside some fellow peers who seemed just as surprised as I was. Then, we all did some verbal brainstorming of carving ideas and hesitantly began carving (since many of us had not done so in a very long time).

Through the duration of the activity, I felt extremely relaxed and carefree. I could not remember a time this semester that I had not thought about work or upcoming exams. Like many Cornell students, I am so constantly bogged down by academic, social, and career pressures, that I often fail to step back and take my health and happiness into consideration. While many students cope well with pressure and effectively manage their time and responsibilities, many (like myself at times), often find it difficult to handle all of life’s many challenges at once–especially in a rigorous academic environment like Cornell. That being the case, it is extremely important that we take the time out of our schedules to step back and engage in activities like pumpkin carving, for they allow our minds and bodies a chance to rest and recuperate.

In the end, while this was not the event I was expecting to attend, I did walk away reminded of the value that fun, social activities can have for one’s health and happiness.

Happy early Halloween, everyone!

So I think we can all agree that we’re pretty stressed at the moment.

But while we are in the midst of studying and doing problem sets and writing papers, let’s not forget we are actual human beings who need to eat and breathe and sleep, as it is so easy to do.

So take a break! Go watch a movie or take a walk or get that extra hour of sleep! Do something fun for Halloween! Care for yourself.

This event was a nice opportunity for sit down and just take a breather in the midst of all the prelim craziness. While I must admit that it didn’t teach me much I didn’t already know about stress and taking care of myself, I did get to carve a pumpkin, which I found to be an excellent way to destress. It was also incredibly refreshing to sit with friends and NOT talk about school. I really don’t do that often enough, and this event was a reminder that I shouldn’t feel guilty about doing so in the future.

*Update* My pumpkin is dead. RIP.

This Rose Event had to be among one of my favorites. Reading the description of this event, “Self-Care Workshop”, I expected to attend a lecture that talked about the ways students should handle stress and taking care of oneself during these times. Yes, there was a brief introduction; however, when I walked into the Rose Library, I was pleasantly surprised to see pumpkins & carving kits set up on the tables along with joyful and smiling faces. I had no idea that we were carving pumpkins, so I was in for a treat. I had never carved a pumpkin all by myself before and had been studying hard for one of my prelims beforehand, so it was a great 2-in-1 where I was able to take a mental break and try my hand at carving a pumpkin.

The Rose House faculty could have easily put together a powerpoint and presented their ideas about self-care. Instead, they decided to take the extra step and plan out this unique hands-on activity, which is something I appreciated. While carving my pumpkin, it was nice to converse with other Rose Scholars at my table that I hadn’t met before, which allowed me to connect with others in the Rose community. Good vibes & upbeat music filled the air and laughter was interconnecting all of us as we tried to clean out the pumpkin’s insides.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this activity as it provided me with something I was craving: arts & crafts. As a child growing up, arts & crafts was an activity that was my creative outlet and a huge part of my life. Being at college suppressed and limited the amount of time I had to do artistic things and this activity rejuvenated something within. It also showed me how important it is to take care of your mental health, even if it is for an hour long, by being surrounded by positive attitudes and creative spirits.

So this past week and the week before have been kinda stressful.  The prelim I was most dreading was this past Tuesday and I was going crazy last weekend.  I’m so glad that we had the opportunity for the self-care workshop, because I know I hadn’t been taking care of myself the way I should have been.

Carving pumpkins is a mindless task, and that is exactly what I needed to do for an hour. Something that didn’t require a lot of brain power, something to help me relax and give my brain a break from working through thermo problems.  Something that I could do to just laugh and have fun.  I really really needed that.

And even though I love going to all the educational and eye-opening events the Rose Scholars provides us with, I have to say that this one was pretty awesome.  And it wasn’t just that I needed a break; it was also the fact that it gave me an opportunity to meet new people in Rose House that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise.  We talked about favorite past Halloween costumes and which scary movies are the most scary and our own personal holiday traditions back at home.  I hope we have more events like that in the future, where we can just laugh and talk and meet new people. It was definitely the break I needed last weekend.

Unfortunately, it never occurred to me to take any picture of my pumpkin, but be assured it was the greatest in the world. Though it got a little moldy, so I let it sit outside under a nice tree. So now if you see a jack-o-lantern between Rose and Becker, you know who put it there. Unless that’s against the rules, or something. Then I had nothing to do with it…

The self-care workshop was definitely a great time. A CAPS counselor from Gannett came and talked to us about some ways we could help manage our stress. Given that it was around the first set of prelims, I think the advice was very welcome. It seemed the tip she stressed the most was to get a full eight hours of sleep. We’ve all heard it before, but it really is simple. Although I am happy to say, I always get at least seven and a half hours!

As for my pumpkin, it wasn’t actually that great. I cut myself with the children’s carving tool within a minute. Once that was all cleaned up, I promptly broke the tool on accident. Somehow, I did eventually get through carving the pumpkin, and made some friends in the process. So in the end, it was a great way to relieve some stress and just get away from my homework for a little while.

Pumpkin carving was a much needed break in between orgo studying. It allowed me to realize just how important it is to take care of yourself mentally and physically when life demands it the most.

When you have prelims and assignments due every week, there is constant stress and tension. You feel like any time you are not studying or doing something productive, you are just wasting your life away. However it is exactly in these moments that you should be doing something mindless and entertaning to relief stress, because the more at ease you are during a time of tension, the better your performance will be. A healthier mind, yields better results!

.This Rose Scholars event was definitely a hit, hopefully there is more of this type of events in store!

This has definitely been my favorite Rose Scholars event so far. I had just finished my first round of prelims, so I decided to go to this self-care workshop to destress and relax a little. They set up a bunch of pumpkins, tools, and decorations on the tables in Rose Library. I had never carved my own pumpkin before, so I was pretty excited.

Before we started carving pumpkins, a special guest (and Rose House Fellow!) came to talk to us about managing our health and well-being at Cornell. Sarah, a CAPS counselor, told us about the support services available to us. Sarah also carved her own pumpkin with us later! Below are some pictures of my pumpkin.

Before:

And after:

My roommate and I brought our carved pumpkins up to our room, but we unfortunately had to throw them out after ~4 days due to horrifying amounts of mold that aggregated.

Academic life at Cornell is undoubtedly rich and valuable, although it can also be one of the most stress inducing aspects of a college student’s life.  Everyone has his or her own way of coping with stress.  Some people like to run marathons and others, like myself, prefer to binge eat pounds of chocolate and peanut butter.  In attempt to avoid extreme weight gain, however, I’ve adopted a healthier alternative to relieve stress, that being practicing yoga.  Over my past two semesters at Cornell, I’ve learned that taking just thirty to sixty minutes out of my daily life to stretch, exercise or even meditate has truly improved my productivity, motivation and energy.  During last Saturday’s Self-Care Workshop, Rose GRF and CAPS counselor Sarah Rubinstein-Gillis discussed various ways to manage stress during busy, high-pressure times.  Some techniques Sarah addressed involved taking the time to exercise, color, reach out to friends, utilize on-campus mental health resources or even carve a pumpkin, as we had the opportunity to do during the workshop.  Even though I failed miserably at carving a scary looking cat and I left Rose with pumpkin hair under every fingernail, pumpkin carving was the perfect break from studying organic chemistry nevertheless.  Manipulating something other than a molecular model kit and meeting and speaking with other human beings were exactly what I needed to clear my mind and to mentally prepare myself for a stressful upcoming week of prelims.  Aside from learning that I would make a horrible surgeon, I ultimately realized that that self-care and mental breaks are the keys to stress management.

This past Saturday, I attended the Self-Care workshop in the Rose library. This was one of the most interesting events I have participated in Rose. Not only did I learn how to carve a pumpkin, but I also learned more about the health resources available at Cornell. I am very glad I spent my Saturday afternoon to get in the Halloween spirit.

I had a good time carving the pumpkin and taking out the flesh. It helped me reconnect with nature, and I found the physical act cathartic. I liked that I could create any design I wished, and the freedom was indeed an effective stress reliever.

During the event, I gained more insight into limiting stress by taking advantage of resources such as CAPS and EARS. Especially because many students have prelims at this time of year, the workshop was helpful! I also got to meet a lot of Rose scholars, which was fun! I realized that Cornell’s environment is stressful for everyone and that we need to care for ourselves and each other. One notion that Sarah, a CAPS counselor, shared that resonated with me was that we are not robots. We are human, and we need to time away from academics to recharge.

This was truly one of the funnest events that I have participated in so far for the Flora Rose Scholars Program. We received much helpful information regarding the many resources that we have on campus for keeping ourselves in the best shape and condition possible. If ever there is a need to talk to someone, there is always an ear available.

After the brief presentation on all of the resources at our disposal, we each received a pumpkin and a carving packet. I have carved small pumpkins, but never a ten-pounder. It was very fun, and it really did help bring me to a more relaxed state, as my mind drifted away from all of my pressures. I got to learn more about the people who live in Flora Rose, including the GRFs. I found my hands getting sticky and it was messy. I even carved the top of my pumpkin hole too small, so I had to carve a giant hole in the back to take out the inside.

This was truly a light, just enjoyable experience; I truly appreciated its simplicity. I think that a takeaway is in life, sometimes we get so wrapped up in our pressures and responsibilities that we forget to enjoy it for what it is. Taking a moment for ourselves is necessary in order to cope with the stresses of life.

Last week I had finished the last of my first round of prelims, and I needed a good de-stressing activity. I decided to go to the self-care workshop, and I had a great time. The workshop started with Sarah, a counselor from CAPS at Gannett, telling us about all of the different resources available to help us deal with stress. Like the majority of students at Cornell, I deal with stress almost daily. However, I have never been to any of the programs because I have always felt my stress is manageable on my own and I didn’t want to waste the counselors’ time. Sarah said that lots of people felt this way, and that’s why they have a lot of group discussions and activities, like the pumpkin carving, to reduce stress. She also told us about a lot of activities we could do on our own to reduce stress, such as coloring, exercising, and pumpkin carving!

Rose library was filled with pumpkins for this activity, and everyone there got to carve their own. The relatively simple activity was very stress relieving and was a great opportunity to meet other Rose residents. I made some new friends and also got the chance to talk to Sarah personally. We also got to take the pumpkins home with us, so now I have a festive fall decoration to help me to relax.

This weekend, I was overwhelmed with three papers to write that were all due on Monday, but I forced myself to leave my room to go to the self-care workshop.  Initially, I was hesitant because I didn’t want to lose 90 minutes and I really needed to focus on the essays, but after, I realized that what I really needed was a break.

When I walked into Rose Library, I was surprised to find the room filled with pumpkins.  The activity that had been planned for us was pumpkin carving, a fall pastime that I had not engaged in since I was in middle school.  It was nostalgic and surprisingly comforting.  It was nice to let my mind rest for a bit as I talked to some Rose residents that I had never met before.  It was a good opportunity to destress as well as to meet other people.

We were also presented with goodie bags at the end filled with candy, a stress ball, and some resources in case we ever want to reach out for help.  A speaker from Gannett came in to talk to us about the available resources on campus such as EARS, CAPS, and Let’s Talk.  This was especially relevant in light of the recent Mental Health Awareness Week.  Cornell can be an extremely stressful atmosphere sometimes and we have to remember to take care of ourselves.  I’m glad that I was able to remind myself of that by realizing how relieving it felt to not think about academics for even just an hour.  Good luck on prelims everyone and please take care!

The first week of class, I wasn’t able to go to my building meeting because I had a night class, so instead I met with GRF Sara over lunch a few weeks later. During this lunch meeting, we discussed hobbies and interests and I mentioned that I carve pumpkins every year during October. I then asked Sara if we could possibly make the pumpkin carving an activity for the Rose Scholar’s program and she said she would work on making it happen. Next thing I knew, I got an email saying it had been approved!

Thank you so much to Sara, Sara, and Esmeralda for making this happen. This weekend was definitely one that I needed a break from the work. I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort this year to manage my stress better, especially after last year in which I clearly did not manage stress well. I am so glad we were able to have the pumpkin carving event. In addition to Sara from CAPs giving some great tips on how to manage stress, the vibe of the room was very calming and pleasant.

This session was a good reminder that sometimes it’s stress-relieving to do something very mechanical that doesn’t require a lot of thought, such as carving a pumpkin or coloring. I don’t have that much to say about this event except that I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it for future Rose Scholars years because it was fun and extremely successful for relieving stress.

This event was lots of fun and allowed me to step away from my work and do something I love: carving pumpkins.  As a kid, I carved pumpkins every year with my family, so when I saw the workshop description I knew I wanted to attend it.

In addition to carving pumpkins, we heard from Sarah Rubenstein-Gillis who is a counselor for CAPS at Gannett.  She told us that carving pumpkins is a great use of our time because it is important to de-stress and do something relaxing regularly to stay emotionally healthy.  She also informed us of the wide selection of resources on campus to help students deal with large and small issues.  I had heard about all the resources before (Let’s Talk, CAPS, etc.), but what I didn’t realize, was that you don’t have to have a huge problem to seek out these resources.  They are open to everyone, with any problem that they want to talk to someone about, no matter how small.

Take away message from this event:  Don’t forget to do something you enjoy regularly.  You’re not a machine.  You have to take a break from work sometimes.

I greatly enjoyed this event because with prelims around the corner it helped me take a step back and give myself a mental break for a little. I also thought it was great to hear about all of the resources Cornell has available which include meditation and walk in counseling which I had not known about.

I also enjoyed carving pumpkins for Halloween, something I have not been able to do for the last couple of years because I am always too busy. Our schedules, deadlines, and meetings never stop so we never have time to do the things we want to do for fun unless we make time for them. Prioritizing is helpful and allowing time to relax and hang out with friends is needed and time well spent.