With midterms just around the corner, students are experiencing high levels of stress. Student Counseling Services (SCS) held the first Great Campus Pumpkin Smash for students to let their frustrations out at the Memorial Union West Loop Monday.
“Midterms are right around the corner,” Jack Seelye, psychologist at the Student Counseling Center, said. “We know students are stressed out. We wanted to provide an outlet to relieve that stress, and what better way to do that than to smash some pumpkins.”
Midterms at Iowa State University are a common source of stress during this time of the year. At the event, students wrote down things on pumpkins that caused them stress, and proceeded to smash them.
“I wrote down organic chemistry as that’s one of my big stressors right now,” Hayden Fulton, a sophomore studying animal science, said. “It’s a thing to do in the middle of the day and just relieve some stress before your next class.”
For students, being able to relieve stress on campus during one of the most stressful times of the year has helped them navigate their frustrations.
“It felt good to smash the pumpkins,” Matthew Nelson, an undeclared sophomore, said. “ISU should hold more events dedicated to stress relief for students.”
ISU has a team dedicated to student wellness and mental health. SCS has held workshops with a focus on student wellness and teaching students healthy ways to cope with stress or anxiety.
“It’s important for students who may be going through something to have an outlet to relieve their stress,” Mariah Herrera, a sophomore studying psychology, said. “It’s cool to see students let out their frustrations in a healthy way.”
In collaboration with Reiman Gardens, SCS was able to get their pumpkins through donations and took inspiration from other campuses.
“Michelle, our outreach director, got this idea from another campus, and we thought about how we can bring this to ISU,” Courtney Lynn Aden-Colburn, administrative assistant for student health and wellness, said. “We reached out to Reiman Gardens to see if it was a possibility to get a hold of their pumpkins, and they were more than happy to help.”
For mental health resources, visit Student Health and Wellness.