SPECIAL FEATURES:
Email
Cupcakes, hammocks offered to college students during exams
Colleges also provide puppies from shelters to cuddle with, and pancakes prepared by the college president.
Sat, Apr 30 2011 at 10:52 PM
Related Topics:
CHARLESTON, S.C. - At 10 p.m. on Thursday, more than 200 students at the College of Charleston emerged from the college library and nearby streets and descended like locusts on a patio table holding boxes of cupcakes.
It is final exam week at the downtown Charleston, S.C., liberal arts school founded in 1770.
Cupcakes and other snacks, massages, yoga classes, Zumba dance sessions, guided meditation and peer counseling are offered to stressed-out students through next Wednesday.
"There's different ways to cope with stress besides eating," said sophomore Tommy Werner, who pronounced himself "about as ready as I can be" for an exam.
The "Cougar Countdown," named for the College of Charleston mascot, brings together many campus organizations to sponsor activities. Popular after three semesters, the program now has a dedicated budget of $5,000 a year, said Lindy Coleman, study skills coordinator at the university.
Earlier this week, students found puppies from a local shelter to cuddle and a pancake breakfast was prepared by the college's president.
The program also uses social media to post exam tips from professors and study groups, so there's a cerebral component, Coleman said.
"People were wild for the puppies," Coleman said.
Other colleges and universities offer similar services during exams, when libraries are often open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
About 20 hammocks are stretched between palm trees on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. University President Donna Shalala, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton, came up with the idea.
"I was looking for a surprise for students to perk them up during exams," Shalala said.
"It's very tropical, very Miami, very South Florida," said Pietro Bortoletto, a graduating neurobiology major. "You see students taking a nap, reading a book. It's a great way to get out of all the negative energy of being in a packed library."
"I love the weather here," said freshman Bessie Nolan, who is from Chicago. "At my residence hall the night before every exam, they have free cheesecake and ice cream and doughnuts and coffee. Only at night."
Harvard University's StressBusters program trains volunteer teams of students to offer back rubs and wellness information "wherever the stressed gather," according to the university's Center for Wellness website.
The Residence Hall Association at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sets up board games, video games, Wii stations, arts and crafts and lots of free food during exam week, said student Clare Kurdys.
One exception to the nationwide pampering during exam week is the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. There, students had more important things to worry about after a huge tornado flattened parts of the town on Wednesday, killing some students. The school canceled final exams and postponed graduation ceremonies until August, according to its website.
But at College of Charleston, President P. George Benson marveled as he watched the cupcake frenzy.
"When I was an undergraduate, our only options for stress relief were poker, touch football and beer," said Benson, a 1968 graduate of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Penn.
"The level of student services has increased dramatically over the years. We have writing labs, speaking labs, peer mentors, students teaching students, students leading students," he said.
"Look at this library. It's full of computers and it has a coffee shop. It's a whole different world," Benson said.
(Editing by Greg McCune)
Copyright 2011 Reuters US Online Report Domestic News
You might also like:
Sign in with one of these accounts to add your comment.
EDITORS' PICKS
Advertisement
TODAY'S MOST POPULAR ON
- Tornado survivor finds dog during live TV interview
- 15 famous people who mysteriously disappeared
- 10 false facts most people think are true
- 5 mind-bending facts about dreams
- Man tattoos puppy, faces backlash
- 6 fascinating people who own almost nothing
- 9 habits that may do more harm than good
- The mystery of Devil's Kettle Falls
- The squirrel that wears many hats
- 15 houseplants for improving indoor air quality - A breath of fresh air
From our sponsor
NEWSLETTER
Advertisement
Colleges and Universities should pay more attention about the students! Therefore they could do their job well and surely would be shining stars who bring up the popularity of that college or university itself.
A better item to supply these wimps with is a large supply of the product Anal-Ease. They'll need it when they find out how bad they are getting screwed by both the government and life in general when they get out into the job market.
These programs could be wonderful if they are teaching student healthy ways to relieve stress. Taking time out of your day to stretch your limbs, enjoy the sunshine, play a game, eat a cupcake(not a dozen, just one), could be good ways to relieve stress. If they take these methods with them into "the real world," then they may lead healthier lives without developing stress-induced health problems like stomach ulcers, IBS, HTN, etc.
All these comments are nonsense. It's school. Yes, its supposed to prep you for real life. But isnt it also supposed to teach you about who you are and how to live? What if future generations geared the "real job" part to be more like their experience here at college? If they are loved, won't they be more likely to share the love later on?
Seriously, if you're "stressed", it means you weren't studying as you went along and are now unprepared. Therefore, any stress is the students' fault ... and they're being rewarded. In real life, their reward would be pink slips from their employers. Permissive parenting and lazy children will show itself eventually to be the downfall of this once-great nation. Shameful!
what nonsense, don't worry kids you're mother will coddle you too when your 35 and still living in her basement with your fancy degree and 100k in student loan debt with no job to repay it...
Dear Future College Graduates,
You are screwed.
Sincerely,
Life
good luck in the real world snowflake!!!
I'm all for working hard to achieve top grades. Hammocks and puppies? Sounds great - nothing wrong with that. It's important for young people to learn healthy ways to manage stress.
Wow what a punch of pansies.