As the end of the semester draws near and finals are slowly approaching the staff at Student Health Services hosted a Coping Kit Giveaway on Nov. 28, giving away kits that will help students release stress and ease their minds.

The event started at 11 a.m. with a booth set up right in front of the Student Health Services building.

The table was filled with blue pouches laid out in rows, the contents held inside the bag meant to give students a helping hand in reducing stress.

Behind the table is Angela Williams, one of the licensed clinical social workers here at Cerritos College who manages the Mental Health Services, explained the contents inside the coping kit bag and what the intent is made with them.

“We’re helping students to de-stress because it’s heading towards the end of the semester and finals are coming,” Williams said, “so we are providing these kits that have items for grounding, which means to help calm in the face of stress or anxiety or overwhelming feelings.”

Williams talks about the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise placed inside of the pouches that takes advantage of the use of our senses to relieve stress and lays the overall foundation for the contents in the bag.

The exercise starts with five things you can see; four things you can touch and give silly putty; three things you can hear and gives a QR code for anxiety relief playlists on Spotify and Apple Music; two things you can smell and gives essential oil scented cotton balls in a tube; one thing you can taste and gives Kiss chocolates.

The bag also contains a less anxiety affirmation card that gives words of encouragement to center yourself and calm your nerves.

Students passing by were able to pick up a coping kit and learn about the contents inside that could help them not only during finals season but in their everyday lives.

Williams mentions how just practicing this exercise can help students reset and get back to focusing on studying or just assisting them in anything else they need relief from.

Rose Salanic, a sociology & social behavior science major, believes that being able to have events like this and the services that the Student Health Center provides are very important in helping her continue to stay afloat in her studies and her life in general.

“I’m a mom of two kids, so I have a lot on my plate and it’s very difficult,” Salanic said, “but having resources like this to help us cope and help us calm down to center and refocus ourselves is very helpful.”

Salanic wasn’t alone in expressing the need for resources provided by the Student Health Center, as her friend Bridget Ledezma, who is currently completing her GED, goes on to mention how helpful to have this event.

“I come to the student health center for counseling, my friend here Rose is the one that recommended them to me. I feel all kinds of support here that I wouldn’t get sometimes from my own family that I get here. It has helped out a lot,” Ledezma said.

The event ended at noon with a steady flow of turnout but with a student body of over 21,000, it barely scratches the surface leaving the Student Health Center still struggling with student outreach.