Finals are over, put your boots up!

Finals are over. Congratulations! Feeling better…almost? For some students, letting go of stress may take you another week or two. The university’s Counseling and Wellness Center reminds students this  is a good time to take a minute to think about how you dealt with stress under pressure and what you’ll do to alleviate the symptoms next time they hit.

The week before and during finals, the Office of Student Engagement and Success held multiple events to help students de-stress. Students were invited to color, eat snacks, listen to music and try pet therapy. Taking advantage of these workshops was a free way for students to help combat stress.

Experts say it’s good to learn coping skills when you’re a student, because stress can be a part of professional life, too.

Leslie Gutierrez, director of nursing at Buena Vida Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, and graduate of University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, remembers her time as a nursing student. She attributed some of her stress to not eating healthy and a lack of sleep.

“I was either studying too much where I didn’t eat or else I was studying so much I didn’t really, never stopped to make anything healthy,” Gutierrez said. “I just picked up whatever I could to take it with me to the library.”

Gutierrez advised how stress can cause a person’s heart to overwork if they’re constantly on the go.  

Kathleen Frank, counselor at the Student Counseling and Wellness Center, offers some insight to what symptoms and effects to look for when experiencing anxiety or stress.

“Feeling overwhelmed, sometimes feeling that having an adrenaline rush, and not knowing what to do with that energy, sweaty palms, dizziness, light headedness, nausea…” Frank said. “So there’s a lot of symptoms a student may experience — somatic or sensory symptoms.”

Often times students are unable to wait or make appointments due to busy schedules. Frank offers some ways to help deal with stress off campus.

“Everybody is different. Everyone has their own thing, so sometimes students are open to yoga, meditation, and some don’t want anything to do with those things,” Frank said. “Exercising, being social with friends, finding time everyday to take care of you. A lot of times we makes sure we take care of our friends, or our family, or make sure this or that is tended to.”

“We often forget to tend to ourselves. Reading a good book, sitting down watching our favorite show, simple things that we often forget about that helps us relieve that stress.”

Gutierrez spoke of how valuable time management is to reducing stress, especially for students during midterms and finals.

“Time management, if you can learn how to manage your time, and kind of plan what your day consists of, then you can spread out your time and know what you have to do,” Gutierrez said. “I think time management is definitely key.”

To contact the Counseling and Wellness center, visit http://www.tamusa.edu/studentengagementsuccess/studentcounseling/ or visit Central Academic Building, Room 210.