For those students who may be pulling out their hair or are otherwise stressed, Student Affairs will be offering events, deals and free food this week, including a free pancake breakfast.
Finals Survival Week is an effort by Student Affairs to help support students this finals season, said Todd Millay, assistant director of the Arizona Student Unions. This includes Residence Life, the Student Recreation Center, the Arizona Student Unions and Campus Health.
The week will begin with a Kick Off Event today from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the UA Mall that will include a zip line, craft tables, games, free samples of ice cream and therapy dogs.
“It’s simply a way to help students have an opportunity to de-stress before finals,” Nick Sweeton, senior director of residential education, said, “and maybe have a little time to get their mind off finals for a bit.”
A free pancake breakfast will also be offered for the first time Thursday night from 10 p.m. to midnight at Cactus Grill, Bear Down Kitchen and Park Ave Dining, Millay said. The idea for the free breakfast on Reading Day came from Jason Tolliver, director of Arizona Student Unions. The hope is that students who are up late studying will come in and take advantage of a free meal, consisting of pancakes, sausage and coffee, Millay said.
“It’s a chance for [students] to take a break and have a little fun for a bit,” Millay said.
Sweeton said he hopes the pancake breakfast will become a tradition that is held every semester.
This is the second time Student Affairs has held Finals Survival Week, Sweeton said. In previous years, different offices put on similar events, but it wasn’t until last semester that all finals week events were organized under one umbrella.
“We have the Finals Survival Week logo that [students] see everywhere on campus,” Sweeton said. “Even if you don’t know exactly what the activity is, you know that it is for you during finals week.”
The activities and deals of this Finals Survival Week include free drip coffee at various locations, discounts on food and more study rooms, Millay said. Highland Market will be making food deliveries again, and the Starbucks at the UA Main Library will be open 24 hours.
Melissa Sayegh, a pre-physiology freshman, said she has heard of the many deals going on as a part of Finals Survival Week and plans on taking advantage of them. Sayegh added that this time of the semester has been stressful, and she is looking forward to breaks from studying for the six finals she will be taking.
Student Affairs received positive feedback for the way Finals Survival Week was organized last semester, Sweeton said, adding that the effort was successful. Last semester, more than 400 gallons of free coffee were distributed, residence halls held 76 programs with more than 4,000 student participants, more than 400 students visited therapy dogs and 518 food deliveries were made from Highland Market, Sweeton said.
The number of participants is expected to grow this year, Sweeton added.
“The entire division of Student Affairs really wants our students to do well,” Sweeton said. “We want to wish everyone good luck with finals, and definitely hope folks take advantage of the opportunities we’re providing to be successful.”
– Follow Ethan McSweeney @ethanmcsweeney
