Senior destress club co-president, Ayanna Nathan, was overjoyed to hear about the grant the club will now be receiving monthly.

“I was incredibly excited to learn that we had won the grant,” Nathan said. “It will allow us to hire professionals for for some of our meetings for fun and new activities.”

Birkeland explained the process for receiving the grant and how the club will make use of it.

Advisor Kara Cisco said that she believes the grant shows the amount of student leadership within the club as the application process was all student led.

“I think the grant really speaks to the amount of student leadership,” Cisco said. “The grant was completely student led.”

“The grant was applied through The Nest and through the nest board,” Birkeland said. “We plan to have some yoga or meditation instructors to come in for sessions.”

Nathan said that the club plans on hiring local professionals to lead the club through various de-stressing activities.

“We want to hire local professionals to lead aromatherapy, guided meditation, dream sessions and yoga sessions as well,” Nathan said.

Birkeland explained how she was unsure whether the club was going to receive the monthly grant, but was very enthused when they did.

“I was very excited and surprised as I almost thought we weren’t going to get the grant, but we did,” Birkeland said.

Birkeland said she is very excited for the opportunity for the club to provide many opportunities to allow students at Park to relax.

“I am so excited for the possibility of instructors coming in who can lead us and help us de-stress even more,” Birkeland said. “I just absolutely love how this grant is giving us so many opportunities to help students relax.”

“I think one of the things de-stress club does is it calls attention to the fact that students mental health is an actual issue that students are struggling with,” Cisco said. “

Nathan said that she believes the grant displays a good message as it shows the community supports students with their mental healths.

“I think it sends a powerful message,” Nathan said. “Our community is committed to helping its students and encouraging the fostering of mental health.”