As students arrived back to Syracuse University in the spring of 2021, they commenced another academic period in the midst of a pandemic. 

Similar to other colleges and universities, students returned to campus with a number of in-person aspects. To do so, however, SU took away spring break in fear of spreading COVID-19, which caused stress and anxiety for many students at SU.

Before the semester started, a petition asking for wellness days quickly gained thousands of signatures. In the end, SU reversed their initial decision for no days off and approved two “wellness days” on a Tuesday in March and on a Wednesday in April. 

SU should reinstate these wellness days to protect the well-being of students. Since the pandemic still affects students on campus, most of the stressors that students faced throughout the pandemic still remain. Wellness days will provide some aid for students who face stress in the semester.

College students face multiple sources of stress, and SU needs to do a better job demonstrating that the university understands those stressors and provide services that aid students going through hardships.

Sophomore Nicole Aponte said she felt the stress last semester as a freshman, and she said she was thankful for those two days.

“It gave me a nice break in the semester where I was able to take a breather,” she said. “This year I don’t have that until Thanksgiving.”

Unlike last semester, however, where the wellness days were on a Tuesday and Wednesday, SU should make them on a Friday or a Monday in order to give students a long weekend. It doesn’t make sense to have wellness days in the middle of the week, bookended by class days, when students can’t fully take advantage of the day off.

Additionally, according to the American Psychological Association, 41.6% of students have anxiety, 36.4% have depression and 35.8% have relationship problems. While two days off per semester is not a cure, the days off can certainly provide time to utilize mental health resources on campus such as those at the experienced counselors and experts at the Barnes Center who are here to assist students for these specific reasons. 

When I arrived as a transfer to SU in spring 2021, I remember hearing a quick synopsis of the mental health resources on campus, but they’ve never been expanded upon further making it difficult to realize that I have help at my fingertips.

I previously attended a school that utilized “reading days,” giving me the opportunity to have one or two days off before midterms and finals. These days provided time to gather my thoughts and prepare for what would be extremely stressful times. These wellness days should be placed in a similar strategic way.

SU should implement wellness days again to show that the university has an understanding of the stresses that many students face. These days would be beneficial to the continual well-being of everyone on campus, and it would give the opportunity to educate students about the endless resources on campus.

Teagan Brown is a junior history and broadcast and digital journalism major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at tbrown30@syr.edu and followed on twitter @teagannbrownn.

Published on September 14, 2021 at 9:37 pm