After multiple snow days, Marshall’s 2018 Student Government Association struggled to organize the second annual Stress Less Week, an attempt at decreasing anxiety levels for students.
“The snow days definitely had an impact on [planning Stress Less Week],” SGA board member Hiam Baidas said. “It just makes the week seem less significant and less important because it’s hard to promote and engage interest for students when they need to catch up and make stuff up after the snow days.”
Not only did the snow days affect the week, but the strict rules enforced by administration at Marshall served as another major obstacle.
“Some of [the activities] are hard to get approved because there are a lot of rules at school,” Baidas said. “Originally, we wanted to hand out donuts and cupcakes, but we’re not allowed to because of this rule where we’re not allowed to give out food during the school day.”
The SGA ultimately found ways to combat rules and eventually accomplish their goals for the year.
During Stress Less Week, activities such as workout sessions, a three point shooting contest and a coloring book session took place. A mental health speaker also came to share her experiences and perspective on mental health. Although some events were cancelled due to multiple snow days, SGA still held a successful Stress Less Week.
“We’ve all received a lot of generic talks about mental health and how you should get help, but what was different about this talk was she told stories and talked a lot from the point of view of a victim or potential victim,” sophomore Ruhi Mehta said. “I think this added factor helped a lot of people understand and care about mental health a lot more.”