UPC Helps Students Make It Through Dead Week
Dead week is a notoriously stressful time for students. Throughout dead week (Dec. 10 – 14) Idaho State University’s Union Programs Council (UPC) will host a series of events designed to help students relax.
The Dead Week Relief activities will begin Tuesday, Dec. 11, with an installment of the UPC’s regular Tuesday Tunes event. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the UPC will also be serving a lunch of ham, cheesy potatoes, and rolls in the Quad Lounge.
Food is free for the first 250 students as long as supplies last. A Bengal ID is required to receive free lunch.
Later that night, students can make their own holiday ornaments in the Craft Shop from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, Dec. 12, free breakfast will be served in the Quad Lounge beginning at 9 a.m.
Sophomore Alonzo Lemus, a UPC board member, said he hopes the breakfast will serve as “brain food” to encourage students to continue studying, despite the stress of the week.
As with the previous day’s lunch, Bengal ID is required and the meal is only free while supplies last.
Thursday, Dec. 13, is the last day of Dead Week Relief. Free massages will be available in the Quad Lounge, as well as free hot cocoa and coffee. There will also be a giveaway of book lights to students. These events will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Lemus said the Dead Week Relief events are designed to take students’ minds off of their studies, and to show them that it’s okay to relax every now and then during finals week.
“They’re an opportunity to lessen concentration on finals,” Lemus said. “Students are always going to have that mindset of ‘I need to go study’ and they might not see that they can relax.”
Lemus said he is most excited for the free massages, and he hopes it will let students relax even further, both physically and mentally.
“When people think about massages they think about physical relaxation,” he said. “I really believe students should have that physical relaxation. We always say ‘Try to relax,’ but that may not be enough.”
According to Lemus, the UPC will be offering other motivation for getting through the stressful end-of-semester experience. He said UPC members will give away candy bars to some students they observe studying in the Quad Lounge, adding an element of pleasant surprise to the stress of dead week.
Lemus offered one final bit of advice for students when dealing with the chaos of dead week.
“Students should balance their time between work and play. We really do hope most of the students have their minds focused on their finals.”
