The Wellness Center hosted two workshops to reduce student stress called ¨Tea, Treats, and Tests!¨ on Jan. 8.

Two workshops were held in the library at two different times. Students could elect to go to a presentation beginning at 6:00 p.m. or one beginning at 7:00 p.m. The purpose of the workshop was to teach test taking strategies and stress and anxiety management for students to use throughout finals week.

¨Anxiety, specifically test anxiety, is an important topic because it affects a large number of students,¨ Wellness Center intern Austin Heafey said.  ¨It produces not only physiological and mental symptoms, but also contributes to diminished performance on assessments.¨

Students who attended the workshop watched a presentation about anxiety and test-taking skills, which included two videos. Before the presentation began, hot tea, cookies and brownies were offered to students.

“I want students to know that test taking, studying and dealing with procrastination are not skills that we are naturally equipped with, and that we actually need to learn them,” Wellness Center Clinical Supervisor Alisa Crovetti said.

The presentation included advice to help minimize procrastination, and reduce anxiety. Student’s were also provided with a handout detailing a seven day study plan.

“It helps, taking that first step is when you really start to change yourself for the better,” sophomore Ryan Garrett said. “That’s when you change your past to a better one.”

The workshop was inspired by a similar one presented by Bishop O’Dowd every year and the Wellness Center plans on offering a similar event again in the Spring, about three weeks before finals.

¨The (Bishop O’Dowd) students love it and the students feel so well taken care of and nurtured by the school,” Crovetti said. “We wanted to provide a little more of that feeling.”

The anxiety presentation was researched and designed by Heafey, and was edited by Crovetti and Wellness Center intern Amy Hester.

¨Whether you suffer from anxiety or not, this workshop has the potential to help you take in more information and find an increased degree of clarity as you navigate the fits and starts of your budding scholastic career,¨ Heafey said.