Stress Relief During Finals Week

This is finals week for me and countless other students. This is the week that our stress level is through the roof, and for some schools suicide rates increase. This is the week that we are low on sleep and high on caffeine.

None of this is good for our health or our grades, so schools have been coming up with ways to decrease the tension. My undergrad had a designated scream time where you could get out your frustration and despair vocally. But a recent trend spares the vocal chords.

If you feel overwhelmed, or just need a study break some colleges, universities, and even a couple of law schools are offering to give you a hand. Or a paw, really.

Starting today (May 7th), students at U.C. Berkeley can visit with animals outside Moffitt Library all week as a way to relieve stress. They aren't the only school to offer this escape, Yale Law School, Tufts University, Emory Law School, University of California-Irvine, University of Akron, George Mason University School of Law, University of Tennessee, Georgetown University and Sam Houston State University have all enlisted the help of animals.

The cool thing about these programs is that the animals benefit as well. Several of the schools use animals from shelters. This allows the animals to be seen by potential future owners (or people that know someone looking for a dog or cat). And it's a great way to socialize the animals (a key component in being seen as adoptable).

So it's win-win for everyone. I hope next semester more schools will be on the list. Maybe my school!

 For now, I've recruited my cat to act as my stress relief.

Good luck on finals everyone!