The Asian Student Union kicked off Stomp Out Stress Week Monday in an effort to help students de-stress as finals season approaches and spread mental health awareness. Various organizations under ASU will hold snack breaks, yoga classes and seminars throughout the week.
Some of the organizations sponsoring the week-long event include the Organization of Young Filipino Americans, the Mainland Student Network, the Indian Student Association, the Vietnamese Student Association and the Chinese Student Association.
Incoming OYFA President Kimberly Hall, a third-year College student, has helped put together the snack break hosted by the organization on Monday.
“The goal is to enable students to deal with stress while acknowledging all the work that they put into their lives this past semester,” Hall said.
Incoming ASU President Kevin Cao, a second-year Commerce student, said he believes the event is well-timed and hopes to continue dialogues about mental health started by Second Year Council’s Fight the Stigma campaign.
“As we approach finals and come to the close of a difficult year for the University, we thought now would be most apt to host Stomp Out Stress,” Cao said. “I've already had several friends reach out and tell me how perfect the timing was — just as they were entering or getting out of a particularly difficult week.”
Snack breaks will be held in Clemons on Monday and Tuesday night, and a yoga class will be held on the Lawn Thursday afternoon. The week will end with a seminar and a discussion on mental health Friday afternoon.
Hall said mental health is an issue of personal importance to her and is looking forward to continuing conversations surrounding the issue.
“The first step is acknowledging that mental health is something we often neglect as busy students and we need to start the conversation,” Hall said.