Students at the University of British Columbia are being offered a unique therapy exercise to help them deal with stress during exams.
Brian Ditchburn is an in-house glassblower and is inviting graduate and master's students to come visit his workshop and "release tension." If the door is open, come on in.
“I saw the [students] walking around like zombies because of their thesis or exam and I just gave them the opportunity to de-stress,” he says.
Students enter his workshop and get to throw unsalvageable glass lab equipment, wearing plenty of safety glasses and under strict safety protocols.
“If they want to talk about it, I can talk about it. If they don’t want to talk about it, I’ve got glass to break,” says Ditchhburn.
From chipped test tubes to specialty glassware that is damaged, he’s got everything a chemistry student could dream of.
“I am a pack rat, so there’s always glass people are throwing out that I am keeping,” he says.
Some students needed no encouragement from Ditchburn to smash the glass on Friday, while others were a bit more timid.
Among them was Keighan Gemnell, who is well into his PhD.
“It's difficult working on the forefront of knowledge because no one has the answers to the questions that we're asking, so we really have to go and figure it out,” he says.
Throwing the glass felt like a relief.
"Seeing the glass smash into 1,000 different pieces was really satisfying,” he says. "It brought me back to like childhood when we go out with my friends and smash some glass when we probably weren't supposed to, but now we're allowed to, so it's even cooler.”
Ginger Brown spends a lot of time doing chemistry on her computer as a computational chemist and PhD student. She’s been relieving stress by going on walks, but just found out the workshop is just down the hall from her lab.
"I didn't know that this service was given to us and actually, my lab is four doors down from the glass-blowing lab,” she says. "I think I'll definitely be coming back instead of going on a walk. I think I'll come and crush some glassware instead.”
Brown believes it’s important to work through stress so that students don’t burn out.
“It’s a five or six-year program and you need to make it through,” she says.
Ditchburn agrees.
"Stress is a killer. Acknowledge that you have stress, acknowledge that you need to talk to someone about it, and even if they're just a friend, admit that you're having an issue. Don't keep it bottled up, because it's horrible if you do,” he says.
