Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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StressFest helps students relax before final exams

2012-04-11_stressfest_nathan
Nathan Goldsmith

Senior biochemistry major Byron Barksdale conducts a yoga demonstration Wednesday afternoon at Stressfest. The annual event aimed to expose students to techniques for effectively managing the stresses of college life.

Final exams and the accompanying stress are fast approaching, but campus organizations are here to help.

Students gathered at West Mall yesterday for the 15th annual StressFest, to discover new and effective ways to relieve stress. Sponsored by the UT Parents’ Association and University Federal Credit Union, StressFest was hosted by the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center and featured organizations from across campus and beyond who exposed students to healthy ways of managing stress, CMHC associate director Dr. Jane Morgan Bost said.

Clinical laboratory science junior Huy Doan sipped on a slush from Jim-Jim’s Italian Water Ice, which handed out free water ice slushes, a healthier alternative to snow cones at the event. Doan said he is stressed about trying to maintain his GPA and trying to succeed in his classes and felt refreshed by the festival.


Business freshman Alexandra Arzuaga visited the CMHC acupuncture station and said she has never done acupuncture before but was excited to try it.

“I’m stressed about finals,” Arzuaga said. “I feel like this event is a great way to get our minds off of school for a bit and to learn new ways to take care of your body when you get stressed.”

Staff psychologist and outreach coordinator Dr. Laura Ebady was this year’s StressFest coordinator and said the event had the biggest turnout she has ever seen with an estimated 2,500 attendees.

“During this time of year, especially before finals, we want to help students discover the different resources on campus for stress relief, provide some on-the-spot stress relievers and give students some useful stress management tips in the coming weeks before finals,” Ebady said.

A wide variety of activities and booths were present in order to appeal to everyone and to cover every type of stress, whether it be financial stress, emotional stress, academic stress or health stress, Ebady said.

Anxiety disorder specialist Diana Damer provided a fun demonstration of cognitive therapy at the fortune telling booth. Cognitive therapy is a version of psychotherapy for depression highlighting the replacement of negative thoughts with positive ones. Students were given a situation and a variety of responses and were asked to choose their most likely response to the situation. If a self-defeating style of thinking was chosen, students were told they can change their fortunes by changing their thoughts.

“Many people think that situations and events cause our emotional stresses, but it’s really our beliefs, thoughts and interpretations that shape our perception of such things,” Damer said. “Positive thinking is not the only solution to self-defeating thoughts. One must learn to be as positive as they can, while still being realistic.”

Damer works with multiple campus groups in CMHC, such as The Courage to Be Imperfect Group and Build Your Social Confidence Group, all of which are free and confidential.

Senior social worker Alicia Garces worked the CMHC multicultural center booth which displayed two large comment boards with the questions “What stresses you out the most as a student of color?” and “What do students of color need to succeed on campus?” Garces said this informal, anonymous environment is an effective way of discovering and gathering such information.

“We are not making assumptions,” Garces said. “We are asking for the thoughts of students and trying to figure out which components on campus are the same and which are different. It’s important to know what the UT campus is providing for minority groups to meet their success.”

Garces said CMHC wants to hear minority group experiences on campus in order to better serve minority groups who attend CMHC.

For an instant stress reliever, students played with therapy dogs from Therapy Pet Pals of Texas, Inc., a volunteer organization based out of Austin.

Volunteer John Nettle brought his Norwich Terrier and said Therapy Pet Pals of Texas brings dogs to nursing homes, hospitals and physical therapy clinics for some small scale stress relief of those present.

“We’re all dog lovers who volunteer our time and pets for a good cause,” Nettle said.

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StressFest helps students relax before final exams