Did someone say Halloween movies, painting pumpkins and playing with slime? On Oct. 24, Honors Council hosted a destress event for honors students at McHugh. Students got to take a break from their busy academic schedules with activities that they chose themselves. Whether you are a new student here at the University of Connecticut who wants to meet new people or are just looking for someplace to rest, events like this are essential for many reasons.
Before the event, students were able to vote on the movie that they wanted to watch. This poll included “Hocus Pocus,” “Ghostbusters,” “Coraline” and a fourth option of suggesting a different film. As students came in, the movie was revealed to be “Coraline,” so the event started! Before starting any activities, students were welcome to pizza, chocolates and candy corn.
When asked how the Honors Council came up with this exciting event, Lisa Liang, a seventh-semester chemistry major, said, “We came up with the idea for this event during one of our first meetings this semester because we wanted to do something fun and Halloween-themed. Our members had great ideas for slime making and pumpkin decorating, and we haven’t done something like this in recent years, so we were so excited to bring these activities to the Honors community.”
Members of Honors Council walked around with a slime kit asking each honors student if they wanted a slime play with. This slime kit included many colors that each student could choose from. Honors Council also provided mini white pumpkins for students to paint if they wanted to. Beautifully painted pumpkins by honors students were all around by the end of the event!
Students enjoyed their time with each other as they talked and participated in these activities. “I think it’s so nice just to meet people that you are living with and going to class with. It makes it a tighter community and helps everyone feel at home here. I also transferred in, so it was nice to meet people,” says Catherine Murphy, a third-semester actuarial science major. When in class, it may be hard for students to meet and talk to other honors students, proving these honors-specific events essential in building a tighter community.
“I connected a lot more with my friends even though we are in the same council. I feel like this destress event allowed me to learn more about them and where they come from,” added Kaliya Barnes, a first-semester healthcare management major.
This Halloween crafts night destress event came just in time for midterms, granting students a time to reset and take a break from the immense stress, especially with being an honors student on top of it all. “I think that we all put a lot of pressure on ourselves, like there are a lot of expectations that most of us could relate to, like trying to be perfect in a way, so I feel like having these events dedicated to honors students who tend to put the most pressure on themselves is a way to destress and find an outlet for each other to find support,” says Johanna Rivera, a first-semester allied health major.
Connecting with those dealing with similar stresses can help remind you that you aren’t alone and that it is normal to feel stress as a college student around this time. So, if you are an honors student, you may want to consider attending one of the next events hosted by Honors Council as it may be exactly what you need.
As the movie ended, groups continued to be creative with painting their pumpkins, playing with their slime or just talking to their friends. No matter the activity one participated in, everyone was smiling and took advantage of this destress event. “Through this event, we hoped to bring honors students together with fun, sensory activities and help everyone ‘stay whelmed,’ a mantra often repeated in Honors. Our hope is that the Honors Council can help foster these opportunities to meet other people and feel a sense of kinship within the Honors Program,” says Liang.
This brilliant and organized event by Honors Council ensured that truly everyone had a fantastic time through various interests. As students left McHugh, attendees seemed rejuvenated. In the beginning, students seemed to struggle to open up, and the room was a bit silent, but by the end, everyone was focusing on each other, and their conversations were louder than the movie itself. The event not only provided a break from academic pressures, but also proved to strengthen the sense of community within the Honors Program.
Upcoming Honors Events can be found on the UConn Events Calendar website.