On April 5, the Student Advisory Board and Wellness Peer Mentors compiled tons of art supplies and invited students to craft their stress away.
Activities like mandala coloring, watercolor painting and vision boards kept students pleasantly focused and distracted from their academic worries. Relaxing music played in the background as Board members walked around taking looks at everyone’s work, remarking on details they found interesting.
Board members were very interested in what students came up with. They were very welcoming and showed that they cared about bringing peace to students’ minds.
“I love getting our services out there and letting the students know about us and spreading the word on mental health,” Tyler Ricks, a member of the Student Advisory Board, said. “It’s amazing helping students relax during hard times, especially with finals coming up.”
Ricks, who majors in psychology, showed an apparent interest in the work of the students seated around the room. Other board members warmly welcomed everyone coming in, getting to know them and making them feel as relaxed as possible. Upon entering the room, students were served a delicious fruity “mocktail” to jumpstart a relaxing afternoon.
The Student Advisory Board is hosting a number of events in the coming weeks to help students with finals, anxiety and a host of other problems students might have. The Board is hosting an Art4Healing workshop at the KSU Zuckerman Museum of Art on April 18. This interesting workshop encourages students to dig deep within themselves and express their feelings using color.
Another event is the Paws and Relax event on April 27 at The Green. During this event, students will be able to meet therapy dogs from Happy Tails, make stress balls and bracelets and do more fun, relaxing activities.
When feeling overwhelmed, burnt out or suffering from writer’s block, creating art can help students get back on track. According to Healthline, drawing boosts mindfulness.
As a person draws or doodles, their mind focuses entirely on the activity at hand. Taking a short break to relieve the mind of distracting thoughts will benefit students, as the mind will clear up and students will be able to start their work with new perspectives.
Counseling and Psychological Services also hosts a variety of other workshops and skills shops for students to attend. Skills workshops like So You Think You Can’t PASS and virtual workshops like Managing Anxiety and Depression are some of CPS’ popular workshops that students find helpful during the semester. More information about the workshops can be found here.
