Graphic by Bell Jackson By Lucy Frost-Helms, Copy editor
On Oct. 17, a mobile rage room visited the University of Montevallo to allow Falcons the opportunity to de-stress after the completion of their midterms. The event was hosted on the patio of Farmer Hall by the University Program Council in partnership with Counseling Services.
The event also featured a donation drive for the Falcon Food Pantry which gave donors a chance to win prizes as well.
At the event, students were able to write down thoughts or things that were causing them stress, such as midterms, on glass plates. After signing a waiver and applying a face shield, students were then able to throw their plate inside a covered tent, thereby smashing their worries away.
Ivey Siegel, Coordinator of UM’s UPC, said, “We had talked about something like a rage room because we wanted to partner with Counseling Services. So, we felt like that was a good stress relief, especially because we decided to do it right around midterms.”
While at the event, raging Falcons shared their motivations for smashing their plates. Some students were stressed by their jobs, some by their classes and some weren’t stressed at all.
Siegel agreed that her midterms were stressing her out while UPC member Kaitie Wayne acknowledged that her pet kitten was peeing in inappropriate places, which she wrote down on her plate.
Theatre major Leigh Michael Cannon said, “I didn’t realize that they were going to have the option to write down stuff that you dislike on the plate and then smash it, and I really enjoy that idea of kind of putting all of your anxieties or insecurities or stressors on a plate then destroying it. Destroying your anxieties, destroying your stressors. It’s really cool! It felt good!”
Theatre major Cailyn Hill said, “I’ve had a lot of things going on in my brain and I wanted to get them out and throw them on the ground, because it’s been rough.”
Elementary education major Nae McNeil said, “I used to work at Pita Pit not too long ago and I burnt my hand and I was very angry about it. And, I recently quit because I hated it there.”
Speech-language pathology major Sage Lage said, “Honestly, I’m not really mad about that much. I don’t really hold grudges. But, like, it was fun just getting to write about my neurological disorder on a plate and I just–I’m not mad about it, I just wanted to smash a plate, for funsies.”
They added, “My plate didn’t even break.”
Overall, the event was a smashing success. While the mobile rage room was the first of its kind at UM, Siegel said that she would be open to hosting the event again if there was enough support.
“I would love to see it be a recurring event. I think it typically just depends on how our students respond and how my members respond but I feel that since all of my members jumped in front of the line, it may be something they want to do again,” she said.
Lucy Frost-Helms is the copy editor of The Alabamian. She’s majoring in social science and minoring in philosophy. She enjoys being a goober, eating chicken salad for breakfast, watching “National Treasure” and telling you that she will “definitely pay you back for that.” Lucy has the worst memory of all time and will forget major, important details of stories you tell her.
