As the school year comes to a close, it seems as if I am balancing – rather juggling – more than ever.  From persistent friend drama, inter-organization conflict, separation anxiety (from family and senior friends who are graduating) and hopelessness. So I was very thankful for the opportunity to join a group of Rose Scholars to discuss the Cornell’s favorite buzzword: stress management. But part of me is always skeptical to ask other stressed students for relaxation advice…

At this dinner, many students expressed the lack of resources available on this campus for combatting stress and hopelessness. Since I walked onto Cornell’s campus nearly three years ago, I heard from upperclassmen that CAPS lacked the ability to provide all students with adequate counseling services. So I find it ironic to see the university build a new health center. I, along with many other Cornell students, are curious to know who will be utilizing the space, since there are little to no CAPS professionals to compensate the students on this campus. A student should never wait for over two weeks to find an appointment.

However, the bulk of the conversation was dedicated to how Cornell University should look to improve their services to prevent the high rate of suicide and hopelessness on this campus. So together a group of Rose Scholars and I drafted a list of concerns and demands we hope the university and Rose House will listen to:

• Free gym membership for all students. Or at least a small gym unit in resident halls.
• Free bus pass for all students
• A weekly large campus event – from movie on the quad, to concerts, to recess, to free ice cream
• Free merchandise and  Cornell Swag
• The Cornell mascot should be more present on campus (walking around giving people high fives, etc)
• There needs to be more university traditions for students to partake in.
• Also, there should be a more coordinated effort to ensure students are engaged. I think the university should publish a monthly booklet with opportunities and events to attend (similar to the orientation packet).

While theses are just a small list of actions. I look forward to working with the Rose community and the University to address and tackle these issues.

In the table talk about health and wellness/managing exam stress, we talked about what we (and Cornell) can do better for students. While a lot of the ideas that were presented for how Cornell can do better is very unlikely to be achieved (these ideas included stuff like “get free stuff” and “get free messages”), I think we should all be held accountable for managing our own final exams stress. Finals are stressful, yes, but there are things you can do to make it less stressful for yourself, and there are things that students do that exacerbate the stress.

One tip that I have is to avoid/limit distractions. For most of this semester I have not allowed myself to watch Netflix unless it’s a Friday night, and I mainly stuck to podcasts as my main source of entertainment. I know some people like the mindset of “treat yo self”, but really, one episode of Netflix can turn into 3 or 4 or 5 very very fast.

Another tip is to prioritize. There was a study done that said that if you had 1-3 priorities that day, you will accomplish 1-3. If you have 4-6, then you’ll accomplish 1-2. More than that, and it’s likely you won’t accomplish any at all. This was something that one of my professors shared with me at the beginning of this semester and I really took the advice in trying to prioritize my day. Yes, sometimes you have several important things that you have to accomplish, but if you could only accomplish ONE, which one would it be? I think someone at the table talk (because I brought this up) asked me what I’d do if I had multiple things due the next day. Truth is, that has actually never happened to me because I end up staggering every assignment out over the course of a week/month so I’m always early in turning in my assignments and studying for my exams. This method will get you way ahead of your coursework (and this is coming from me, a stats/premed taking 22 credits this semester, working almost 20 hours a week, and still getting 8 hours of sleep a night, have a social life, and doing well!) so I recommend you giving it a try (or at least a thought) if you haven’t.

I think the last piece of advice for managing your exam stress is to take care of yourself. Don’t skip meals, and sleep is really more important than people give it credit for. I cannot count the number of times this semester where I went to bed late after being stuck on a programming problem–but when I wake up refreshed, the solution would come to me very quickly.

Hopefully everyone has a successful exam season! But I know we are all looking forward to the summer 🙂

Last Monday, I dined with Sara and Liz to learn how to de-stress. We had a small group eating together, sharing our hectic schedules, and discussing personal coping mechanisms. I was extremely comfortable interacting with my neighbors and sharing my experiences. I realized that this was a great way to top off my year as a Rose House Scholar. What began as a planned program of choosing weekly events to participate in and comment on for credit, had turned into something much more. I now realize that I have become part of the House here at Rose, and the people, my neighbors, have become part of my life. Several times throughout the year I was unable to attend an event with Rose, but I took the idea for the excursion and went with friends or on my own. Throughout the year, I have shared lectures and movies, a play, a plantation visit, and several special dinners with my neighbors. I have also visited the Johnson Museum, the Ornithology Lab, and the Holy Cow demonstration! As a Rose Scholar, I have been urged to explore the best Cornell has to offer and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! Sitting with Sara and Liz, eating and de-stressing, has brought home a feeling of belonging at a place that is far from home. I will miss Sara and Liz, and all the Seniors in our house who will graduate. I wish them the very best from the bottom of my heart!
With hopes of returning to Rose,
Nadia

Last week, I participated in the table talk discussing Health and Wellness for students on Cornell’s campus. We discussed how even if students, want to pursue help there are not many channels that allow for such help to happen. For example, Gannett schedules future appointments instead of same-day appointments for counseling or psychological advising. For a person who feels stressed at that moment in time, being told that they can not meet with someone is something that is problematic.  So a possible solution was to hire more specialists especially since they are expanding the building.  Another idea that we felt would decrease stress, would be to have scheduled amusement every week. Having inflatables, hayrides, face-painting, cotton candy, bringing these things to students would help create a  nostalgic feeling which in turn decreases stress levels. This would also inspire people socializing with their friends. Having some of the activities like orientation week, every week would improve health and wellness at Cornell. On a smaller scale, I feel that Rose could also have more stress relieving focused activities. My suggestion was to have free 10-15 minutes massages for all residents from professional masseuses. This would create a great turnout.  This also would allow people to take the time out of their day to have a moment of relaxation. More ideas like this would create a healthier campus for everyone.

On April 24th, I took part in a Rose Talk regarding how to better manage end of the semester stress. We each took turns talking about what advice we give to others, what places we enjoy studying at, and what our current strategy for handling stress is.

An interesting topic we spoke about was why is it that we can offer great advice to stressed out friends but have difficulty taking our own advice. As a result of this realization, I’ve been consciously making an effort to take the advice I give others and apply it to myself.

Lastly, we discussed how we feel as though Cornell’s infrastructure isn’t sufficient for the number of students; we shouldn’t be worried about not being able to find a seat at a library during prelims or how it seems as though dining halls can’t handle the influx of people during peak hours without creating long lines. While these problems don’t add an immense amount of stress individually, together they do.