Students filed into Manion 103 for breakfast burritos, stress balls, bath bombs and hot cocoa as a haven of relaxation before finals.
Yesenia Perez, senior and president of UCA’s American Chemical Society chapter, said the Nov. 7 ZenChem session aimed to provide students with a good time before all the stressful tests and projects come at the end of the semester.
“We decided to host ZenChem because finals are in a couple of weeks,” Perez said. “Everyone’s having their last exams probably coming up or they’ve been taking their last exam before finals so now would be a good time to de-stress.”
The de-stressing features of the event included making stress balls out of cornstarch and balloons, and bath bombs from citric acid and other household ingredients.
Freshman Hailey Zornes said she got messy making a cornstarch stress ball. She used a blue-and-pink balloon to make the ball purple.
“We’re making stress balls to use. It’s mostly just a fun thing, but the goal is to de-stress,” Zornes said. “I’m definitely gonna carry it around, maybe to class. I think it’s successful.”
Senior Sophie Rushing made a bath bomb by mixing household ingredients in a plastic bag, and then putting the ingredients into a mold.
“It’s good to be involved and social and get out,” Rushing said. “To make things with your hands is helpful for your mental health and bath bombs are relaxing, so it just makes sense.”
Senior Katherine Peters, ACS vice president, said her favorite thing about ZenChem was the bath bombs.
“Citric acid is cool and the bath bomb relies heavily on chemistry and it’s something people can use and actually be functional,” she said.
Peters said she joined ACS to meet more people and make connections.
“I came in my freshman year and really did not have an opportunity to connect with anybody because everything was online, asynchronous. I figured this would be a way to kind of get in with my peers who had similar interests,” she said. “I’ve met some really good friends here and it’s been a great opportunity, not to mention I got to connect a lot more with the faculty. They are very valuable resources.”
Junior Mia Clark, ACS treasurer, said she joined the organization as a transfer student. She said she had a great experience and decided to run for an officer position.
“I like getting other people to come in and enjoy it like I did and make friends out of it,” Clark said. “I like being able to advertise, especially to freshmen so they feel like they have a place that they can go and talk to people that are older in the major and get advice.”
Senior Yesenia Perez, ACS president, said the organization is a great way for students to get introduced to chemistry.
“ACS involves students on campus in chemistry and making it more approachable and less intimidating than it would be if you were to enter into chem one or going into organic chemistry,” she said. “It’s a fun way to learn chemistry and get involved with other people who are also into science.”
Perez said ACS will be hosting its Winter Witz Trivia Extravaganza on Dec. 5. More information about ACS events can be found on CubConnect.
“You don’t have to be a chem major. You don’t have to be a science major,” Perez said. “This is for anybody just to kind of make science fun. We always have a good time.”
