Final Multimedia Story
HPU Offers Resources to Help With Stress During Final Exams
Why this year (2021) might be the most stressful exam year of them all?
Q News
By Trevor Omahen
Final exams are the most stressful times of the year for students around the world. Finals come in all shapes and sizes. It may be a paper, it may be a project, or it might simply just be a test. But, there is one thing that does not change, and that is the stress that they bring.
Different universities around the country try different things to help accommodate their students during these intense times. It is important schools realize how mentally exhausting these exams are. It can bring
mental problems to a lot of students, and this stress can also allow students to not perform as well as they can. If these students are over-stressed, it can bring panic and anxiety, and this will force these students to meltdown or burn-out during their finals. The key to performance for these students is to have optimal stress. High Point University offers many different resources to their students so they can obtain that level of optimal stress. What does High Point University offer to their students?
In the past, High Point University has offered multiple resources for their students to relieve stress during final exams. They have joined the wave of bringing emotional support dogs to campus for students to pet and play with in hope to relieve stress. It has proven that dogs can lower stress levels for the average human and schools around the country have realized that dogs can do the same for students.
Harvard University explains how dogs can lower stress levels.
With COVID-19 bringing so many issues into the picture with everything, High Point University is still hoping to offer everything they have in the past to their students. They still want to bring dogs onto campus for the students, but they first have to figure out how they can mandate it within COVID-19 guidelines. High Point has also offered massages and certain food trucks for students. Massages have been proven to lower stress levels and it is perfect for students when they are stressed during their tough final exams. The food trucks are a good resource because it offers students something different and more healthy to eat than just the same ole' campus food. The massages might be a problem for the school to have during this global pandemic, but the food trucks are well within COVID-19 protocols.
HPU's Student Life perspective
High Point University's Student Life is always thinking of how they can better the daily life of their students. I was able to go into their office and ask them a few questions regarding resources they are able to offer this year during final exams. They emphasized how the food trucks are still going to be open for students during the week of finals, and there will be no issues surrounding that. One of the employees stated, "We want to offer the massages, it is just we do not know if we can because of COVID-19". They re-emphasized several times how much positive feedback they have heard about the massages being offered during finals and they hope they can offer that again, but they are scared it might not be an option. I asked them what the deal is regarding the dogs, and they said they are most likely going to have the dogs, they just have to finish some guidelines that they are going to follow so this can happen for the students. Kaitlyn Dodos, of Student Life, hopes they can do all the things this year that they have in the past, but she is not 100 percent that they can.
HPU student perspective
I was also able to meet with two High Point University students and get their perspective about the topic. One student, Evan Bergman said, "I went and saw the dogs last year, and without even knowing it I felt less-stressed." Bergman also said, that he did not pay much attention to how much he was stressed before seeing the dogs and not so much after until I talked to him. He realized that it actually did help now that he is paying attention and hopes he can do it again this year.
I was also able to meet with his roommate, Nick Hernandez, who did not get to experience these resources last year. I told him what I was studying about, and after I asked him a few questions he came to the realization that he wishes he has used some of these resources in the past. "I hope they offer the massages this year because now that I think about it, I can use one before my first final," Hernandez said.
What this means for the students
Optimal stress level is what kids want to strive for when they are wanting to be at their best for their final exams. All schools around the country should offer many resources for their students during the stressful times of final exams. High Point University has joined the wave, and are seeing better test results from it.
Throughout my time interviewing different people, and getting different perspectives around the topic, I have concluded that students need to actually utilize these resources to optimize their final grades. I have been guilty of not using these resources in the past, and students should learn from Nick Hernandez and Evan Bergman that these resources truly do help. High Point University does not offer these to just offer these, they want the best for their students as statistics show that optimal stress is where students need to be mentally during final exams.
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