This time of the semester, students find themselves in a familiar slump: finals week. This Sunday, Orange After Dark will attempt to remedy student stress by hosting an extravaganza of free pancakes, therapy dogs, professional massages and bouncy inflatables at their pancake breakfast “stressbuster.”

This is the last event of the semester for Orange After Dark, an organization that aims to provide an alternative to partying by hosting late-night social activities. The Sunday pancake event runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Schine Student Center, free with a Syracuse University ID. This year’s theme is “pajama party.”

“’Stressbuster’ is a perfect word to describe this event,” Lorena Silva, Orange After Dark’s staff program coordinator said. “I don’t quite know what else you could ask for in a study break,” she said.

The event is a cooperative effort between Orange After Dark student volunteers enrolled in HTW 221: “Community Health Promotion,” and staff members of Student Centers and Programming Services.

Devon Knapp, a graduate assistant for SCPS, works with HTW 221 to plan the event, which, at its core, centers on public health by helping students manage stress in a fun way.

“We’re really relying on them since it’s their major to give those ideas,” Knapp said. “We’re hoping to give them the experiences of event coordinating, designing a flyer, promotion … but also tailoring the health side of it as well,” she said.

Catherine McInerney, a junior public health major and student volunteer for the event, said helping people and promoting health through community events is rewarding.

“Public health is very community-based,” McInerney said. “I feel as though that’s super important to me and I can relate my classes to something in the real world. … It’s applied, it’s real learning, and I feel as though I can help my community in a way by volunteering through this.”

McInerney has been meeting regularly with her group and supervisors, planning the event and tabling to raise awareness, in addition to promoting the event over social media.

“I am excited for how people are going to feel once they come to our event. We’ve put so much work into it and I feel like if people appreciate what we’re doing and it actually helps them de-stress, that’s going to be the most rewarding thing to me,” McInerney said.

On the night of the event, student volunteers will monitor the various activity stations with the help of SCPS staff. Activities will include petting therapy dogs, massages, yoga, and of course, the pancake breakfast.

Said Silva: “Even if you just come for half an hour to grab a few pancakes and say hi to some dogs, I think that you will feel relaxed. I think you will definitely enjoy yourself, and you’ll be very glad that you came.”

Published on December 7, 2016 at 10:37 pm

Contact Karli: kgasteig@syr.edu