MAYHEW — Students at East Mississippi Community College’s Golden Triangle campus found a unique way to release their finals week stress on Tuesday – by beating a van with a sledgehammer.
Organized by the Student Government Association, the event gave students a chance to take out their frustrations by shattering windshields and popping tires.
Ostin Parr, a freshman manufacturing student, said it was his first time participating in the car smash. The whole experience was a rush, he said, after trying to pop the van’s tires with a pickaxe.
“I always wanted to go to a rage room, but there’s not too many of those around,” Parr told The Dispatch. “That’s why it’s so cool that the school does something like this.”
LeAnn Alexander, dean of students at the Golden Triangle campus, said she had the idea for the event last year after a community college in Alabama hosted a similar event. She floated the idea to administration, and it went off without a hitch and was the most-attended event last year.
Now in its second year, Alexander said Tuesday’s Finals Fury car smash gave about 50 students a time to relieve their stress in a healthy way. And with today’s students, there’s a lot of stress to relieve, she said.
“We’re always looking for positive coping mechanisms, and we know today there’s so much more that students are bringing to the table, whether it’s financial woes, things that are happening at home, transportation, school (or) relationships,” Alexander told The Dispatch.
The car smash allows students to let go of their frustration in a safe, controlled environment, she said.
“While we can’t look over everything, we want to offer them opportunities to let that type of stress out in a positive way,” she said.
Students were required to sign a waiver before choosing between a sledgehammer, pickaxe or baseball bat. Then for two minutes, they had free reign to smash, beat and shatter any part of the soon-to-be-scrapped EMCC van.
Austin Jamison, student engagement chair for SGA, used a sledgehammer to beat down the driver’s side door. His motivation? An upcoming calculus final he “gets mad just thinking about.”
Jamison said the event gives he and other students the chance to channel their frustrations in a safe way during a high-pressure week.
“I hope other students get the same thing out of it I did: the euphoria, a chance to laugh and get all the anger out and anxiety out,” he said. “You just take all your anger out on that.”
But Finals Fury isn’t only for finals-related stress. As freshman Aspen Helms waited for her two minutes to begin, someone in the crowd asked her what she’s most stressed about.
“Schools and boys!” she yelled back before slamming a baseball bat into the shattered windshield of the van.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
