By ERIN KIM
Staff Writer
With final exams right around the corner, UHS helped students de-stress through Wellness Week events from January 11 to January 15.
Events of the week included Pajama Day Round on Monday. On Tuesday, Shawden Soltani (Sr.), taught a yoga class in the small gym during lunch. Soltani taught poses specifically targeted toward stress relief, as well as some stretching and breathing exercises. Soltani often turns to yoga as an emotional outlet, and stated that yoga is her “release or escape when tired, upset, or stressed.” As a practitioner of two years and instructor at Corepower Yoga, Soltani shared professional knowledge on how to relax by focusing on breathing.
On Wednesday, Associated Student Body (ASB) served free hot chocolate in the 200s, 300s and 500s buildings at 7:30am. Debbie Lu (Jr.) enjoyed a cup before first period and said, “The hot cocoa was great because it was really cold in the morning, and I needed a pick-me-up before heading to class.” Then, from 11:45am to 12:45pm, there was a puppy party in room 407. “The puppy party was pretty awesome,” said Mr. Justin Olvey (Visual and Performing Arts Dept.). “In fact, some colleges always bring in puppies for the students before finals week because it’s been proven that spending time with animals helps relieve stress.”
World War II veteran Robert Davis spoke during office hours on Thursday as part of a UHS Speaker Series. He shared stories about his experiences in combat and his memories of his deceased friends. To finish off the week in a relaxing mood, Friday was Pajama Day Round 2.
ASB Speaker Series Chairs, Jacob Gharemani (Sr.) and Brian Guan (Sr.), took a month to plan UHS’s second Wellness Week. Remembering the popularity of last year’s yoga session and hot chocolate distribution, they decided to keep both events. To add variety, Gharemani and Guan decided to host a puppy party. “We thought it would be awesome if we were able to get puppies to come and relieve the incredibly over-worked and stressed students of Uni, as we have never had a puppy party before,” said Gharemani. Like many students, the puppies were Gharemani’s favorite part of Wellness Week.
There were certainly challenges, however, in planning such an eventful week, especially regarding its financial aspects. “We didn’t have a budget per se, but we didn’t want to waste money because the school and ASB only have so much,” said Gharemani. “The most difficult part of Wellness Week was finding a place that sold hot chocolate in bulk for cheap.” After visiting different stores and purchasing various types of hot chocolate, Gharemani spoke to workers at Walmart and managed to receive a discount.
As for the future, Guan and Gharemani hope that UHS will have more than one Wellness Week per year, as it is a fun way to cheer up students the week before finals.
