By Lexi White
Features Editor
photo | Lexi white
Spanish major John Romano, a senior, making slime with his residents in Wilkinson Hall.
Navigating the first semester in a new environment with new classmates and all new stressors can be a challenge for some first-year students.
To try and help those who have been having a difficult time, the resident advisers, RAs, of Wilkinson Hall organized an event to help their residents learn about stress and mental health.
Communication disorders major Jailene Brito, a sophomore, and Spanish major John Romano, a senior, were the two RAs who put together this educational event.
Their main goal was for students to be able to gain new strategies to cope with the stress they face each day.
“Learning about how to manage stress is so important because it helps your mental health and your physical health,” Brito said.
Brito said that her freshman year of college was overwhelming. She said that she did not know who to talk to or how to cope with what she was feeling.
“I wanted to do some research, so I put together a presentation about what stress is, how it can impact the body and how to overcome it,” Brito said. “I wanted to make sure that everyone has a clear idea of what stress is and give them the resources to get through their rough patches.”
Romano said that he wanted to give his residents the opportunity to talk about what has been stressing them out. He said that might not have grown up getting the help they needed and might have wanted to talk about what they are going through.
“We wanted students to know that they are not alone in what they are feeling,” Romano said. “By teaching them how to manage all the stress they may face, hopefully now they feel more relieved.”
Romano said that he wanted to let students vent while throwing in a slimy twist. He said that by giving them something to fidget with, they can talk about their troubles in a relaxed manner.
“Slime is like a staple from our generation’s childhood and brings up nice memories, and we wanted to give them that space to feel comfortable,” Romano said.
One student who wanted to get in on the slime action was sociology major Charlie Nelson, a freshman. She said that she came to the event to make slime and to learn skills for managing stress.
Nelson said. “A lot of people have mental health issues, and they don’t know about the resources here, but this event showed us that there is a lot of help available.”
Sociology major Charlie Nelson, a freshman, showing off the slime she made at the event.
VOL. 64- ISSUE 5
