Stress Less Fest

St. Clair College is acknowledging exams are a stressful time for students and are offering relaxing activities to help alleviate the stress.

In 2014, the amount of stressed Canadians ages 15 and older is more than double the population of Toronto.

On April 18, Stress Less Fest will be the first ever event at the MediaPlex held by second year public relation students addressing exam time stress by offering coping mechanisms.

Donna Ntumba,  co-chair of Stress Less Fest and a MediaPlex student, said she thinks the event is the ideal solution to student stress.

“When it’s stress season, what’s a better way to spend your time than destressing with fun, carefree activities,” said Ntumba. “A Stress Less Fest is the perfect idea.”

According to Statistics Canada, in 2014, almost a quarter of Canadians aged 15 and older, roughly 6.7 million people, reported most days were “quite a bit” or “extremely stressful.”

Angela Raffoul, an outreach worker for the Canadian Mental Health Association spoke to the first year journalism students about maximizing mental health and dealing with stress.

“Stress can be good sometimes,” Raffoul said. “Our body is showing us when we’re stressed in those crisis situations, and makes us think and act really quickly, which can really good because we can get whatever we need done.”

The majority of activities at Stress Less Fest will be free, some may require a donation, with the proceeds going to the school’s Public Relations Club. The activities will include body movement sessions, painting, bracelet making, reiki, knitting, dance and more. Beverages and barbeque food will also be available at an additional charge.

The event will start at 11 a.m. and go until 3 p.m. at the MediaPlex.

For more information, you can check the event page on facebook under Stress Less Fest 2019.