Tamica Jean-Charles/Entertainment Director
The most dreaded week of the semester is almost here: finals.
The Healthy Living Program is prepared to help students maneuver stress through finals week. HLP will be hosting various events for students as they enter their final days of the semester.
“[We do this] to let students know what we offer to help them combat [stress],” said Ebonie Parris, assistant director of HLP.
Parris said the program focuses on stress management and how to aid students in a healthy manner. The program does so by hosting events, such as the Stress Less w/ Healthy Living event to educate students on stress management, and sessions students can attend throughout finals week.
“We are also trying to make sure students are not waiting to try to cram things or procrastinating, but rather than considering what they need to focus on,” said Parris.
HLP commences on what they call “raw-day”, or days where workers go out into the community and engage and educate students on healthy studying, preparation and de-stressing.
Parris said emotional, or stress, eating is a common habit students may fall into during finals week. HLP also offers dietician services.
“A lot of our focus is on stress and stress management for students, to try to make sure they’re learning about the different resources that they have access to,” said Parris.
Parris recommends students use the free massages and aromatherapy to de-stress. These services, she said, are the most used resources among students.
“Those two services alone are two really big things students love,” said Parris.
Being calm, writing down goals and finding motivation is important to remember when dealing with stress, according to Selena Sifontes, a health educator for HLP.
“It doesn’t have to be this, “Oh I have to go get a massage for an hour and pay for it’,” said Sifontes. “It can be something very small like taking ten minutes to their favorite song.”
Sifontes urge students to set aside time to unwind during finals week. Exercising, spending time with friends or going for walks are a few of the activities students can do during the hectic week.
“Working out is my favorite thing,” said Sifontes. “Working out gives me the energy I need to for the day, working out gives me clarity and increased my ability to focus.”
For more information on HLP and their services, head to their Instagram @fiuhlp or email them at wellness@fiu.edu.
Photo by Adrian Motroc on Unsplash.
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