With finals looming and another semester quickly coming to an end, many Grand Valley State University students have reached a new level of stress. Along with exams comes a long list of big events and programs filling GVSU’s events page in the next weeks. These large scale events are often hosted or organized by students, leaving them with a choice between studying and fulfilling other obligations.

Wayne Kinzie, the associate director at the Counseling and Career Development Center, discourages student organizations from planning such time-consuming programs around the final weeks of classes.

“(It’s) absolutely not (a good idea),” Kinzie said. “In fact, I would opt for the entire week before exam week to be a time in which no such activities be scheduled, including athletic events.”

He added that “quiet time” should be enforced throughout the entire campus.

Jackie Sevic is president of Dance Troupe, a student-run organization that gives GVSU students a chance to dance and choreograph non-competitively. The organization has been at GVSU since 1996 and holds a dance recital each semester to raise money for various charities.

Sevic admits that as the president of the group, her responsibilities are “a little more than most,” but she and the other members of the Dance Troupe board can average between 10 to 15 hours of work for the organization “on a slow week.”

Along with her position on the organization’s executive board, Sevic works part-time and coaches a dance team at a local school, but she relies on the Dance Troupe Facebook page and her organizational planner to keep her life structured.

With Dance Troupe’s winter recital just over a week away, Sevic said preparation begins early.

“For the shows, we begin planning usually the semester before,” she said.

Along with the behind-the-scenes preparation, Sevic said the entire organization meets bi-weekly, but each individual dance team will meet once a week.

The demands of the organization may seem daunting to some, but Sevic said she doesn’t see the organization hindering her academic life.

“Personally I don’t think dance troupe interferes with homework,” she said. “You can only do one dance if you want so it isn’t a huge time commitment, so it’s really up to each dancer.”

College Parents of America reported in a survey done by the Associated Press and MTV in 2009 that “85 percent of students feel stressed on a daily basis (and) 60 percent of students at some time have felt stress to the point of not being able to get work done.”

The survey also pointed to stressors such as “academic demands, procrastinating and balance between work and school” being some of the main concerns facing college students.

But extra-curriculars surely play a part, as well, and Kinzie said these large events may not be serving the purpose they were originally meant to.

“I believe these events (that are) designed to celebrate the end of another academic year, may be quite stressful (to participants),” Kinzie said. “But plenty of other students choose not to participate and avoid stress that might be inherent in such events. Students come (in) who have allowed themselves to become deeply invested in organizations, who in turn ‘demand’ time, involvement, energy (and) participation from them. I encourage students to be careful about over-involvement (because) it can definitely be a stress producer.”

For those involved in events or just plainly stressed out by finals, Kinzie said the best combat for stress is over-preparation.

“Stress is due to the experience of being underprepared or believing that one is underprepared to adequately respond to the demand,” he said. “An excess of resources, in this case preparation and knowledge of subjects for exams, is (the) best stress management.”

While everyone is likely to become stressed out during finals, Kinzie said irritability, diminished ability to relax and sleep, loss of appetite or excessive eating and unusual forgetfulness are some of the symptoms of extreme stress.

To contact the counseling center, call 616-331-3266.

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