By Claire Wright, Advisor
Blue skies graced the Western New England University campus on Monday, March 15; what should have been the start of Spring Break.
But on this beautiful cold day, students were not headed for the white sand beaches, but rather they were writing their worries, anxieties, and stresses onto glass plates and smashing them into millions of little pieces.
The kick off to the Campus Activities Board’s (CAB) stress relief week was a smashing success as students ate whoopie pies, broke plates, grabbed t-shirts, and took a whack at piñatas. This was the scene throughout much of the week as students gathered (safely, with masks) to take breaks from classes and studying and to relieve some of their stress.
Throughout the week, CAB provided different opportunities for students to relieve their stress and take a break from studying and school work. Each program offered a variety of giveaways, activities, and food.
Along with the individual giveaways, prizes, and food, the first 25 students at each program were able to get their hands on a white long sleeve shirt, designed by Special Events Chair, Evan Grocki, and a list of the week’s programs,
Mental Health Monday kicked off the week, followed by Spring Splat on Tuesday, where students threw paint filled balloons at a canvas covered wall, creating a masterpiece. This bright sunny day also offered some of the best Grilled Cheese ever tasted from the “Say Cheese Food Truck.”
Wednesday provided the biggest celebration of the week offering St. Patrick’s Day giveaways, awesome prizes, cannolis, and dinner selections from Murphy’s Mobile Food Truck. Roughly 325 students turned out for the event with Irish music playing in the background, setting the mood .
Thursday brought a rainy, dreary day, but that didn’t dampen student’s spirits. Students started lining up at 6:30 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m. program and a chance at Jellyfish Air Plants, weighted stuff-a-critters, and crazy donut flavors from Donut Crazy in West Hartford.
Friday night, we kicked it back with Tech Decks, Cosmic Brownies, and bucket hats for a 2000’s night. Also provided was the opportunity to play some Wii games and make friendship bracelets.
The final program of the week was the smallest, but the most exciting. A small group of students made the short trek to Hartford, CT, for an Axe Throwing adventure. While the group was small, the competitive edge was large, and fun was had by all.
Throughout the week, it is likely that close to 1000 students came out to enjoy the festivities, including those quarantined in Berkshire Hall. CAB made the decision to bring the fun to them by sharing whoopie pies, cannolis and goody bags filled with everything from Thursday’s Anti-Anxiety program, providing them some stress relief of their own.
While this week was a lot of work for the Campus Activities Board, they worked hard to provide some fun, stress relieving events for the rest of campus as they tackled midterms and a heavy workload.
As their advisor, I am extremely proud of how hard they worked, and I hope everyone had as much fun throughout the week as it looked like they were having.
