Beebe suggested the Tape Art mural after seeing its effectiveness on patients in a children\u2019s hospital where she previously worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients requested painter\u2019s tape to create these tape art murals in their rooms. It helped them engage with their space and feel more in control, rather than confined,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Tape Art mural was really the underlying thread through the whole week \u2014 it gave students, staff, and faculty a shared creative space to pause, connect, and recharge. We wanted to celebrate art as a powerful tool for easing the stress of final exams \u2014 building social connections, reducing stress and anxiety, and strengthening community engagement in support of mental health and overall well\u2011being.\u201d<\/p>\n
The finished piece was unveiled on Thursday following remarks from Torres.<\/p>\n
Jana Elarousy, a senior BBH major, said the class chose to focus on executing an event for the end of the semester because so much research has been done on college students\u2019 stress levels at this time of year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did it at a good time \u2014 close enough to the end of the semester so students could attend many of the events,\u201d she said. \u201cStudents are incredibly overwhelmed at this time of year. I\u2019d even like to see a Cram Jam at midterms.”<\/p>\n
The student response was overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cForty students participated in the board game competition, and we ran out of space in the Glow-Ga class,\u201d Beebe said. \u201cI think students appreciated that it was a very nice, fluid event \u2014 they could come and go as they wanted, or they could come and stay. Some students came in for the board games and stayed for two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
Face-to-face networking and participating in classic pastimes like working on a jigsaw puzzle or blowing bubbles were two huge draws for students. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne person said they liked playing the board games and just sitting around with different people,\u201d said Cora Oberly, a senior BBH major. \u201cThey liked the analog aspect. I didn\u2019t see anyone with a phone. I think this type of event is needed at the end of the semester \u2014 it filled a space that was lacking. There are plenty of other events happening on campus, but nothing like this, with activities like bubbles, tape art, and games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruthanne Troutman, a senior BBH student, said her professor in another BBH course created a Cram Jam reflection assignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany said they didn\u2019t expect it to be as fun as it was,” Troutman said. “It relieved their stress, they could come in and do the activities without having to think about them, and they felt better afterwards. A lot of them said they would take some of these things, like the board games, and do them at home. Many said they were surprised at how much better they felt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daria Krout, a junior BBH major, said events like Cram Jam help students manage their stress during final exams but the exercises are helpful anytime.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bubble blowing activity actually tricks the brain into doing a deep breathing exercise,\u201d she said. \u201cI think this event gave students stress-reducing strategies they can use in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beebe said she hopes Cram Jam will become an annual spring tradition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis might be the event the health promotion class holds every semester, whatever the students make it,\u201d she said. \u201cI plan on doing it again, whether it\u2019s the actual project for this class or through another biobehavioral health initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
She noted the BBH program is expanding and adding more majors.<\/p>\n
\u201cBBH students are very hands-on and motivated,\u201d she said, \u201cThey chose BBH because they want to make a difference in health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beebe suggested the Tape Art mural after seeing its effectiveness on patients in a children\u2019s hospital where she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-184585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}