VSU hosts DeStress Fest to help students with end of semester rush

VALDOSTA, Ga. (WALB) - Valdosta State University (VSU) helped students relieve some stress as the end of the semester nears.

The university hosted a DeStress Fest on the front lawn of campus.

Students were able to hang out with therapy dogs and even farm animals.

There was also a yoga session for relaxation.

Heidi O’Connor, the assistant director for VSU’s counseling center, said it’s been a challenging semester because of the pandemic and that providing these events is crucial for students' mental health.

“It’s been a long semester. We work with our students virtually right now with counseling, so we hear how they’ve struggled and it’s hard to get out and hard to be quite as social. So, they’re missing out on a lot of things and I think events like this are just reminders like, ‘Hey, there’s more than just your rooms and more than just books and studying,'" said O’Connor.

O’Connor said getting students to come out and feel some type of normalcy has been really important this semester.