Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

End of Semester Stress? Here’s Some Advice, Resources to Help Cope

Wednesday, December 7, 2016, By Kathleen Haley
Share
Students
Carnegie Library Reading Room

Students study in the Carnegie Library Reading Room. (Photo by Steve Sartori)

The end of the semester brings extra work, prepping for final papers and exams, and a heavy dose of extra stress. Stress cannot totally be eliminated but it can be managed.

Kristelle Aisaka, a health promotion specialist focusing in mental health in the Office of Health Promotion, highlights some advice her office provides to students and campus support resources that can help alleviate some of the worry in the mad dash to get everything done.

Kristelle Aisaka Portrait

Kristelle Aisaka

Q: What is the biggest stress factor for students at this time of year—end of semester?

A: Students definitely have a lot of things contributing to high levels of stress as the semester wraps up. Finishing up final projects and preparing for presentations and exams definitely cause stress and anxiety, on top of what is already pretty stressful for most students.

The general stress associated with being a full-time student, other things that might be going on in personal relationships or at home, current events, job or internship stress, financial stress, you name it—all of those things, with the added pressure of the semester coming to a close, can definitely add to the stress.

Q: What are some things you discuss with students in your programming about dealing with stress?

A: We talk a lot about self care and what that looks like, not only during this end-of-semester crunch time but throughout the rest of the year as well. Incorporating meditation, breathing exercises, stretches or other short activities that are effective and energizing can be helpful, as can utilizing personal or professional resources for support.

That said, we also acknowledge that experiencing stress is inevitable, and no amount of stress management practices will completely eliminate it from our lives; we also talk about coping with stress by noticing our physical and emotional responses to it, keeping perspective and recognizing what we can change, and putting ourselves in a healthier place physically and/or emotionally to best react to that stress.

Q: What are other resources on campus that can help?

A: Our office provides free bulletin board kits to campus leaders on stress management and other health topics, as well as sleep kits that people can order (they’re free!) that come with sleep information and resources (a sleep mask, earplugs and tea). We also have the Stress Reduction Room, which is a great resource for students looking for a place to relax.

Outside of our office, the Counseling Center and Student Assistance are great resources for students. Additionally, our office has been in contact with Student Centers and Programming Services and Orange after Dark, who are doing their Stressbuster event this Sunday, Dec. 11, from 10 p.m.-1 a.m. in the Schine Student Center, as well as the Department of Public Safety (DPS), which is doing De-Stress with DPS events in Bird Library from 8-11 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9; Sunday, Dec. 11; and Monday, Dec. 12.

Q: What is your go-to method for relieving stress—either in the moment and some longer-term ways?

A: Depending on how much time I have, definitely coloring or meditation. We have a new biofeedback headset in the Stress Reduction Room that has been really helpful for that. Keeping my schedule up to date, making sure to schedule time for self-care and being intentional about who I spend more (or less!) time with in my personal life helps me manage stress long term.

  • Author

Kathleen Haley

  • Recent
  • WiSE Hosts the 2025 Norma Slepecky Memorial Lecture and Undergraduate Research Prize Award Ceremony
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By News Staff
  • Inaugural Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows Announced
    Friday, June 13, 2025, By Wendy S. Loughlin
  • Lab THRIVE: Advancing Student Mental Health and Resilience
    Thursday, June 12, 2025, By News Staff
  • 7 New Representatives Added to the Board of Trustees
    Wednesday, June 11, 2025, By News Staff
  • Whitman Honors Outstanding Alumni and Friends at 2025 Awards and Appreciation Event
    Tuesday, June 10, 2025, By News Staff

More In Campus & Community

Inaugural Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows Announced

Three professors have been named Meredith Professor Faculty Fellows. Part of the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship Program, the Faculty Fellows program was launched this year. Fellows will work in partnership with the Center for Teaching and Learning…

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go Orange! Faculty and Staff at the Syracuse WorkForce Run (Gallery)

The Syracuse WorkForce Run was held at Onondaga Lake Parkway Tuesday, bringing together workers from across Central New York for a night of food, fun, fitness and friendly competition among area employers. This year’s event, which raised funds for Ronald…

Oren Lyons Jr., Roy Simmons Jr. Honored With Alfie Jacques Ambassador Award

Oren Lyons Jr. ’58, H’93 and Roy Simmons Jr. ’59, H’14 formed a lifelong friendship that stems from their days starring for the Syracuse University men’s lacrosse team from 1955-58. Recently, Lyons and Simmons were honored with the Alfie Jacques…

McDonald Assumes New Role as Associate Vice President for Research

Katherine McDonald, professor of public health and senior associate dean for research and administration in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, will join Syracuse University’s Office of Research in a new role as associate vice president…

7 New Representatives Added to the Board of Trustees

Chancellor Kent Syverud has appointed Dean Mark Lodato of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications as academic dean representative to the Board of Trustees. In addition, Andrea Rose Persin, assistant dean of budget, finance and administration in the College…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.