Finals, midterms and other test seasons at the University of Arizona can be hard on students’ mental health and some students feel support and resources are lacking.
Jacqueline Gomez, a senior studying Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, is one of the many students at the library preparing for exams on a recent afternoon.
“I definitely force myself to stay in the library pretty much all day and just to, you know, put on noise canceling headphones and just to lock in with my notes,” she said.
Students often feel stressed and overwhelmed during these times. Mackenzie Brooks, a junior studying Communications and Psychology, said she sometimes feels guilty taking a break from studying.
“Like I’ll go out with friends and stuff to try and calm down a little but then in the back of my head it’s like ‘Okay but you should just be working on your essay’, type thing. Even if I don’t have the motivation I feel guilty doing the things I enjoy if they’re not school related,” she said.
These feelings are common among some students, especially during heavy test seasons. Gomez said she and her friends experience a lot of emotions around test taking.
“I know I have experienced just being really down on myself about a certain class.” she said. “Just all feel freaked out, (we) feel like we haven’t gotten sleep, or we’re just not feeling ourselves just because of the stress,” Gomez said.
Lack of well-advertised events are what keep some UA students from attending these “stress-relieving” activities on campus.
“A lot of it is because I’m busy and it’s mostly a distraction. And also I feel like they’re not super well advertised or at least that they could be advertised more because I feel like I don’t hear about them till the day they’re happening,” Brooks said.
Gomez agreed that finding these events is difficult.
“I don’t know where to find that support. I guess I see emails during finals week like ‘Oh you can go to this center or reach out to these resources’, but I don’t think that I ever really do just because I feel like I have my own routine and my own way of studying so I haven’t reached out to any resources that I’ve seen,” she said.
Gabriella Fernandez, a sophomore studying Human Development and Family Sciences, believes that professors make all the difference during this time.
“I think that not the University directly but professors need to understand that there are multiple classes that a college student could be taking,” she said. “We all have different limits on what we can handle.”
Organizations like Stressbusters, a student-run outreach program, offer resources that students can take advantage of if they are feeling weighed down by the pressures of test seasons. The next event hosted by Stressbusters is on April 16, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Students have the opportunity to receive a free, five-minute backrub from the volunteers.
