Despite several months of planning, stress week at Fresno City College has been shrunk to one-day event.

The abridged program is scheduled on Dec. 9. Various previously scheduled events have been canceled.

“We had originally planned stress week, but there was a series of events that happened,” said Elizabeth Pichardo, a psychology major, and member of Active Minds.
Flyers were posted around FCC promoting stress week which included events such as puppy day, when students could go into the Old Administration Building [OAB] room 251 and play with puppies. However, on Dec. 7, the day of the event, a line of students formed outside the venue for more than an hour before an announcement was made.

“We [Active Minds] did start with the flyers,” Pichardo said, but insists that her group “didn’t officially release them to the public.”

The Active Minds Club, Health Center and Psychology Services, all involved in the stress week planning, failed to notify students of the cancellation. Pichardo says Active Minds did cancel the reservation of the room, yet there was no notice posted on the door of room 251 in the OAB.

“I’m disappointed,” said Salena Alvarado, an English major, who was among the students who waited outside the doors.

“The SPCA, they were definitely on board,” Pichardo said. Unfortunately, Active Minds missed obtaining applications and permits for the dogs from the State Center Community College District.

Moreover, the group fell short in gathering masseuses for their massage event. The SCCCD refused to grant approval for punching bags as well.

The situation was “completely out of our hands,” Pichardo said. “At the end of the day, it was just not something that was possible. At least not for this semester.”

Despite the setbacks, Active Minds, the Health Center and Psychology Services will go forth with conducting stress day in the free speech area on Dec. 9 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. A booth will be set up to hand out literature, bubble wrap, stress balls and hand-held massagers. Complimentary cards with “encouraging words,” Pichardo said, will be posted around the campus starting Dec. 8, 2015.

Even after Monday’s circumstances, Alvarado says she will still take advantage of stress day benefits.

Pichardo said, “The goal is to reach out to our peers.”