De-stress fest will provide food, activities and massages during finals week

Join us for the De-stress fest on Sunday, May 1st - Wednesday, May 4th at Kimbel Library

During final exam week at Coastal Carolina University, thousands of stressed-out and sleep-deprived students march through the doors of Kimbel Library each day looking for a place to study. At Kimbel Library, we believe it is essential to supply students with the space, services, and resources to succeed during this grueling week. In addition to the necessities, however, we also feel the library should be a place for students to find a little emotional support.

Check out the free stuff we are giving away during finals week:

Students select free snacks from the De-stress food cart.

Free food!

When: Sunday-Wednesday, every hour on the hour in the evening.

We at Kimbel Library believe there is nothing better than free and nutritious snacks to make those stressful feeling go away. Snacks are purchased in bulk and distributed by library staff via a library book truck moonlighting as a food cart. Library student assistants gather behind the scenes to help decorate the food cart with streamers, colorful pictures, and CCU paraphernalia. With each passing semester, the food cart has become more and more ornate while students become more and more grateful. One particularly beleaguered student declared the food cart “restored her faith in humanity.” We are not sure if this statement is representative of everyone’s feelings about free granola bars, but it was sentiments like this that made us take a more aggressive approach to combating stress during finals week.

Students create squeeze balls during the library's De-Stress Fest.

Games and fun!

When: Sunday through Wednesday evening from 8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Our second attempt at relieving student stress was the creation of the official library De-Stress Fest. Each evening during finals week, library staff set up a table on the first floor where students can create their own stress relieving squeeze balls. Students take sand from a communal bucket and funnel it into balloons. Once the balloon is filled to the desired girth, students decorate it using colorful markers. Smiley faces, motivational phrases, and even the names of their toughest classes are the most popular graphics.

In addition to the squeeze-ball station, the library creates oversized crossword puzzles and word finds for students to complete during brief study breaks. The puzzles are themed with topics that relate to a coming reward such as summer vacation, or relaxing locations such as the beach. Last spring, over 300 students made squeeze balls and completed twelve different puzzles. Seeing the popularity of the De-Stress Fest inspired us to develop yet another opportunity for students to relax.