Each month, William Peace University students are provided the opportunity to relieve some stress at a Stress Management Workshop sponsored by the WPU chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), a leadership honor society.
These Stress Management Workshops, which are held in the President’s Dining Room in Belk Dining Hall, consist of different activities and group conversations that allowed students to talk about different stressors and challenges going on in their personal lives.
The workshop starts off by everyone introducing themselves and participating in a few stress relieving activities. Some of these activities include writing down and identifying ten things that stressed you out and then ripping the paper up. The purpose of this type of activity is to come to terms with your stressors and to appreciate them because without stress, nothing would be possible. In past sessions, students also practice a “power move” as well as learning some massage points that relieve stress.
The leader of the workshop was Courtney Hirsch, who used to work here at Peace as a the Director of the Loyalty Fund in the Office of Engagement, and now works independently as a life coach.
“I do what I do to remind people that everything happens for us not to us. Sometimes we get so caught up in the doing and the stress and we don’t give ourselves the space to see the gifts that happen in really stressful situations,” Hirsch says.
It is important for students to find ways to manage their stress because it is very easy for students to become overwhelmed with everything that is going on around us including school work, jobs, keeping up with our social lives and all while staying balanced and healthy.
Sydney Melchert, ODK president and a senior at WPU, attends these workshops every month and encourages other students to attend these workshops that are geared towards helping them become more successful at Peace.
ODK puts on these workshops every month with each workshop focusing on a different topic. Next month’s workshop with focus on Servant Leadership and will be held the first Wednesday in January at 5 PM in Belk Dining Hall.
