Juggling deadlines, exams, papers and their social lives can often cause students stress.
The Wellness Center, partnering with their student-run counterpart organizations P.E.E.R.S. is working to provide a solution. The Wellness Room, located in the Wellness Center, allows students to check out of their busy lives for an hour of peace and quiet. Use of the room is free to all USF St. Petersburg students.
Victoria Beltran, a Health Educator at the Wellness Center, said stress has one of the highest impacts on student academic success. This room was designed to combat that impact.
“This is for them to be stress-free,” Beltran said of the Wellness Room.
The Wellness Room is open anytime during the Wellness Center’s regular business hours. To use the room, students must set up an appointment.
Several amenities are provided, such as a massage chair and the biofeedback program. The biofeedback program monitors the user’s physiological activities, such as heart functions. It can be accessed on the computer available in the room. The goal of the program is to train the mind to control physiological responses to anxiety and stress. The sessions include guided meditations and exercises to slow down breathing.
To start biofeedback sessions, schedule a time to speak with a counselor in the Wellness Center. The counselor will complete a biofeedback screening and provide an orientation to the program.
A bookshelf of pamphlets relevant to student health, ranging from stress management to sexual health, are also provided to read in the room. Students have the freedom to choose what they want to do, whether they read, study or meditate. There are no commitments the student must accomplish in that hour. They are just provided a time to find peace and stability.
“The goal is balancing, not about being perfect,” Kelly Stefanski, P.E.E.R.S. Treasurer, said.
For more information on the Wellness Room contact PEERS at USFSPPEERS@gmail.com. To schedule an appointment for the the Wellness Room or the biofeedback program visit the Wellness Center, Monday through Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and Thursday from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Student Life Center 2200.
