Tuesday, Sept. 19 is the first wellness day of the academic year, and many students are assessing how they might choose to spend it.

This is the first year the University has implemented wellness days into the school calendar prior to the semester beginning. The Student Services Center website says wellness days are “a way for students to take a break, re-center themselves and focus on their holistic well-being. There are no classes on Wellness Days and instructors should avoid any tests or deadlines on that day and the day following the Wellness Day.”

There have been concerns voiced by students and faculty alike in previous years when wellness days have been introduced spontaneously.

Eleanor Lott, a third-year studying biology and the undergraduate member of the Mental Health Task Force, said students’ main frustration with wellness days has been professors not wanting to accommodate the wellness day. This stemmed from faculty needing to move coursework around and stray from syllabi that have been meticulously planned. 

“The task force heard a lot of conversations around the wellness day — whether it would be beneficial or not, whether we were doing them correctly,” Lott said. “A lot of frustration from the professors came from a place of, ‘We already have our syllabus planned out. We already have our exams scheduled, and you’re throwing this at us with months notice.’ I can say that we worked really hard to schedule them in advance.”

However, Terry Gates, a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, said the wellness days never posed an issue for him as an instructor.

“Ever since COVID started and we began seeing that students were having trouble getting integrated first to online learning and then being back in school, I really began a wholesale reevaluation of the way that I teach,” Gates said. “When the wellness days came along, for me it was never really a problem, even the one that was quickly implemented last February.”

Gates said he was in full support of students using last semester’s wellness day to enjoy a day of rest, and he has continued that attitude this semester.

“I will be pushing back some of my assignments,” Gates said. “This [wellness day] is on a Tuesday, so I don’t have anything due on that Tuesday — no quizzes or anything on their minds. I think it’s very important for students to have those times to let go and not worry about any of their assignments, not worry about readings or catching up or being good enough compared to other students.”

Lott said this mindset is the best way for professors to approach the wellness day.

“The best ways that professors can accommodate are to not make deadlines on the wellness day, not to have tests on the wellness day, really encourage the students to take the day for themselves as opposed to working on certain things,” Lott said.

Lott recognizes this may be challenging for professors who are used to teaching the material a certain way and at a certain time but encourages their cooperation nonetheless.

“It is an adjustment for them, but we really want them to be conscientious of the fact that they are partially responsible for making sure that their students are being taken care of and making sure they are being mentally well,” Lott said.

It’s not only professors who need encouragement to make the most of wellness days. Many students opt to use the day off as an extra study session or a library day as opposed to taking the day to practice mindfulness.

“I’m gonna be honest, I’m the type of person that likes to study on my wellness day because I like getting ahead; however, if that’s not going to be conducive to your mental health, then don’t do that,” Lott said. “If you can allow yourself time to plan ahead and say, ‘I know I have the wellness day next Tuesday, but I have the exam on Thursday, let me start studying on Saturday instead of Sunday,’ that can be really beneficial.”

Gates said he notices his students find any spare time to study, and said if there’s any moment in class his students aren’t actively doing work, they will be doing a homework assignment or cramming for a test.

“I don’t know what to tell them to take that time off because it’s so ingrained in faculty to have a rigorous course, and that means covering a large amount of material and then having these assessments that is perceived to help students learn the material and to test them,” Gates said. 

Making the most of wellness days and students’ overall time at NC State is ultimately a two-way street. 

“I think it would really benefit faculty to reevaluate the ways that they are assessing students, the value that they place on assignments versus tests versus other projects and their strict deadlines,” Gates said. “I think it would benefit students to reevaluate not only the way that they study, but their time management and what they’re trying to get out of their education.”

Wellness day events can be found on the Wolfpack Wellness website.