When December arrives, 32% of students, instead of feeling excitement for the upcoming winter break, feel even greater levels of stress, according to the National Library of Medicine. The stress and/or anxiety a scholar feels during exams does not help them to do better; instead, it increases their probability of academically performing poorly. During finals week, students tend to lose a lot of their sleep time and time for other activities due to the critical focus they put on studying. Of course, exams are a must when it comes to high school and college, yet here at LVA,  the Fitness Club seems to have found a way to help students find 30 minutes of their day to take a small break. 

For the past two weeks, on Wednesdays, the Fitness Club has met up on the second half of lunch in the field to offer yoga with the amazing company of dogs to take their minds off the upcoming exams. Genee Castro, Fitness Club president, said, “In the end, you feel a bit loose just knowing that you were able to connect with other people in the way that didn’t have to exchange words, but just through smiles and eye contact… Everybody’s struggling. Everybody needs a reset, and I’m not alone in that.” What Fitness Club offers is more than just an exercise for their members to participate in; this is for any student who is stressed and burning themselves out right now. It’s for them to put down the books for a little bit and take a deep breath to really focus. 

Truly, Fitness Club thinks of the best for not just themselves but for the other students as well. You don’t even have to be part of Fitness Club to tag along and dedicate 30 minutes of your lunch time to hanging out with some cute dogs and teachers such as Ms. Truman. Of course, there are many more ways to cope with finals stress, but this one is definitely not a bad option at all.