For the first Friday of every month, the Saint Mary’s Student Activities Board (SAB) organizes and hosts a “Fun Friday” event dedicated to helping students de-stress and relax after a hectic week of classes.
Senior and Student Activities Board president Zoie Clay said self-care and relaxation are of utmost importance for the health and wellbeing of students.
“Sometimes it’s easy to get distracted with school work, club activities and various social commitments and students forget to take time out of their day to just recharge and de-stress,” Clay said. “Our main goal as a student organization is to plan and organize events that will not only be fun for students but will also offer a comfortable and enjoyable space for students to feel at home away from home.”
Clay said the “Fun Friday” events have been a long-time tradition at Saint Mary’s and aim to foster a sense of community and overall enjoyment.
“A lot of the time, we get our ideas from the feedback of students on what they would like to do and what would be fun and we usually aim our events around that,” Clay said. “In past years every Fun Friday has been located in the student center on the top floor and this year we’ve been rotating them in the different dorm lounges. The lounges offer a much bigger space and more girls are able to participate and get involved.”
This Friday the event will be hosted in Vendoland in McCandless Hall from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and students will be crafting ceramic tiles and coasters.
“Each month the crafts are designed and themed differently,” Clay said. “The crafts really range, with different themes and activities. We’ve done cake-pops, we’ve done, tye-dying, friendship bracelets, DIY face masks and body scrubs for relaxation. This Friday we’re asking students to bring their own 4x4 picture that they will mod pod on the tile. It’s really fun because they are allowed to be as creative and innovative as they want. They can turn their tile into a cute coaster for their dorm room, mod pod a picture of them and their friends or it could be a great idea for Christmas gift.”
Clay said roughly 50 to 100 girls participate in the “Fun Friday” events throughout the two-hour time frame. Light snacks and music are also offered at each event.
“Although it’s small and not a huge group of people, it’s a great event that brings students together and creates a sense of sisterhood among them,” she said. “I think it’s important because, firstly, college can be a hard and stressful time and to just have a moment to get away in a creative and fun way, can be very positive for students’ health and wellbeing. Also, girls bring their friends and roommates along and it can be a really great friendship activity to just get away from doing schoolwork and a way to relax when everything's so crazy and hectic. It also allows for a nice way to meet and bond with other girls and forge friendships that way.”
