With revision and library woes at an all-time high at York, some students have taken to suggesting alternative ideas for destressing.
With a bouncy castle unlikely to be appearing outside the library anytime soon, it’s about time we took inspiration from others on how to avoid the daily blind panic of having belongings confiscated by the library police.
Aberdeen University has taken the step of setting up rooms around campus for “puppy therapy” throughout the main brunt of the exam period. The idea comes from a study at Hiroshima University that found that people are both happy and better concentrated around puppies.
It’s an example that has now been followed elsewhere across the border, with Edinburgh introducing sessions with “therapy pets.”
Jenny Leader of Edinburgh’s Student Counselling Service told NewsStand: “Some students have done an awful lot of work, and yet still get wound up and stressed about how they’re going to perform [in exams].
“So it may be that a little bit of working with a dog can just take the edge off, and calm them down.” This comes as a particular relief to students who have increasingly found themselves under constant surveillance from library staff – sound familiar?
Unfortunately it’s not an idea that will be hitting York any time soon, with staff claiming that any move to bring pups to campus would contravene animal welfare and health and safety legislation. Gutting.
In Sheffield, though, it seems they’ve been doing things a little differently. The University’s Forge Press claim that uni students spend 15 times more money on sex toys than their Sheffield Hallam brothers and sisters. York doesn’t appear to have similar stats, alas.
So, the work-related stressing goes on in York, but at least we can take some comfort in that we’re not as bad off as Oxford – where student paper Cherwell has revealed that finalists exams are being undermined by an outbreak of mumps. Grim.