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I’m Shaking My Head…
I get mailed a couple of alumni magazines from NC State: one from the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (Physics undergrad) and one from the College of Engineering (Nuclear Engineering grad). It’s interesting to see what’s going on at the school, and with other alumni (astronaut Christina Koch did that all-woman spacewalk a while back). I was enjoying reading until I got to the end, when I saw this:
Now, if students really need to play with puppies to relieve final exam stress, what’s gonna happen with stress in the real world?
Jumbo Jet Pilot: Looks like our engines have failed! We’re going to crash unless I do something — but what?
Co-Pilot: Sir! How can I help?
Pilot: Go down in the cargo hold and fetch me that puppy I saw the baggage handlers load earlier. I think it’ll help.
Co-Pilot: Roger that, Sir!
When I was in school, I relieved the stress of taking a final exam by studying for the next one. Heck, I studied so much during the semester, studying for the final was really a recap to keep my memory fresh. When the last final exam was completed, I got together with friends and grabbed some pizza and beer.
Oh, I tried to provide a link to the article but the online magazine didn’t have one. However, I downloaded the PDF and the article was still there. I took a screen pic, and that’s what you see.
Published in Education
Wait for it . . .
The last piece of memorable info from my alumni mag was that one of the “Big Bang Theory” guys was a graduate.
From Animal House to Animal University . . .
I beat the stress by studying every day after school. By the time finals rolled around, there was very little new material on them, so a quick refresher was all I needed. None of this cramming stuff . . .
And like the jumbo jet pilot, you set yourself up for not being able to function unless there’s a stress dog available . . .
I think it’s a kind of bra . . .
I showed one of my daughters a picture of the B-52s and she freaked . . .
The problem is you can’t go through life with a puppy hanging on your belt ready to relieve stress whenever it hits. Besides, stress is a necessary part of life. It’s what makes us rise to the occasion and face whatever challenge comes our way. Excessive or unnecessary stress is what causes heart attacks and ulcers . . .
How adult.
I have my moments, rare as they are . . .
Stad you are on fire today.
One of my old sayings: There’s too much stress on stress these days.
True. It used to be we just had to deal with it. Quitcher cryin’ and man up.
I was wondering where the smoke was coming from . . .
Isn’t the whole program based on the premise that they’ve gotten there schoolwork done, so now they can unwind for a few minutes. Every commenter on this thread swears they walked to school uphill in the snow both ways, got a beating when they got home, went to bed without dinner, and did it all again the next day… and somehow they loved it.
Are you doubting me?
It’s like you were there.
That’s silly, unless I am completely misreading this scenario. It sounds like there is an area where people can go play with a puppy during finals week, not that the puppy is acting like an emotional support animal during the exam or something crazy like that.
Let’s say they had open gym hours to deal with the situation via exercise / sports. Would that also be a bad idea, since you do not always have a gym available? What about volunteer work like walking a shut-in’s dog? Stress is a part of life, but people deal with stress in a lot of different ways. I’d hang out with people or listen to music to help deal with stress in college – I suppose that was bad as well?
No, stress does not make us rise to the occasion. It’s dedication (I will earn the grade, I will not let down the team) and integrity (I will not allow myself to fail). Stress is the mental response to the challenge.
The hell it doesn’t . . .
I will agree the challenge of a stressful event doesn’t make everyone rise to the challenge, but it makes those who want to achieve do so. People need to learn how to deal with the stress of a challenge, and to play with puppies is not going to prepare you for life. Take my jumbo jet pilot, but this time put the jet into a dive. No time for the co-pilot to get that puppy from cargo. If the pilot has been puppy-conditioned, you can kiss the jet and all its passengers adios.
Like I said, you can’t go through life with a puppy dangling from your belt.
There are a lot of activities that are good until someone tries to institutionalize them and then make a government program out of them. Midnight Basketball was a nifty thing in the hands of a private group, but then the Clintons tried to provide federal funds for it.
In the case of the dogs it seems to be a private organization that’s trying to do something useful while getting some publicity and private donations for its program. People may with some justification think this is going to be institutionalized with public funds, because that’s the way a lot of things go, but we shouldn’t assume every quirky project will go in that direction.
So, I should point a gun at your head while you write Ricochet posts, and you will write better? After all, stress makes you rise to the occasion.
I think the problem here is that we are talking about two different scenarios – you are referring to a single stressful situation like an exam or a dangerous impending incident, while I am referring to a period of time that has stressful moments periodically like finals week or reactor outages. Obviously, if you need an emotional support animal all the time, you are a problem, but there is downtime between exams and studying, and it is rare you will have scenario where you are going to need to be high stress modes for days on end without rest or a break. The Apollo 13 mission control crew worked in shifts, after all, and there’s nothing saying they could not relax and rest while off shift before going to deliver calm and dedicated service on shift.
Don’t be silly.
Let’s not be too hasty, Stad. It could improve your posts…
Haha! The point is a gun to my head is unnecessary stress, and yes, is likely to make me fold like a cheap suit. But necessary stress is part of life. As for these students, did they not have final exams in high school? Did they not get guidance in how to study during a semester so regular tests and finals are manageable stresses?
Sheesh . . . I think I’ll go downstairs and pat one of my cats . . .