In the midst of midterm week, many students can feel overwhelmed with exams, papers and presentations. There is a lot of studying and hard work happening, which can wreak havoc on students’ mental well being, creating the perfect time for a break, which is where the Paint and Cider event comes into play.

Psych-Alliance, a psychology club at Rowan University that promotes knowledge on mental health disorders, held its Paint and Cider stress management event, in Robinson Hall from 4-6 p.m. this past Friday, Nov. 2.

The event allowed Rowan students to de-stress and learn more about coping mechanisms, while enjoying soda, snacks and laughter.

During the event sandwich trays, drinks, acrylic paints and canvases were supplied for students to make their own creations. This event started through the President of the Psychology Alliance, Callie Demaria, who got the idea approved through Proflink to help students relieve stress during midterms.

“There are definitely more people that came out than we expected,” said Vice President of the club Gianna Visceglia.

About 30 Rowan students showed up to the event to paint and eat snacks.

Dr. Jeffrey Greeson, who is a health psychology professor at Rowan, was the guest speaker for the event, touching base on stress management and ways to deal with it. He wanted to give students a broader idea of why we stress, what brings on stress and how we can attack it.

“What I learned about stress is that you can be mindful of it and monitor the way you are being mindful about stress,” said undecided major Frank Thomas.

Thomas was referred to the event by a friend. He tries not to stress much, but when he does, he tries to take deep breaths.

There are numerous ways to deal with stress, either by focusing on breathing, breaking down a list of what needs to get done immediately or by breaking down the thought process as to why there is stress.

The way Visceglia deals with stress is to take a minute to think about why she is stressed and what the main cause of her stress is. 

“I try and take a couple deep breathes, and just tell myself that it’s not that bad and that there are a lot more worse things that could happen to me,” Visceglia said. 

Not only does the club work on helping students understand and cope with their stress, but they also work with the community through volunteering and fundraising. They promote knowledge of mental health disorders, treatments and stigmas along with breaking down the behaviors of the brain and the aspects of human personality.

“We at Psych-Alliance do lots of service, fundraising and we volunteer a lot,” Visceglia said.

The Psych-Alliance meets in room 126 of the Science building on Mondays at 9 p.m. 

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