Finals Weeks is a stressful time for University of Houston students with tests, presentations, and essays at the forefront of their mind. To help ease students’ stress and give them a break from their long study sessions, UH held its traditional end-of-semester Finals Mania event at Cougar Woods Dining Commons.

This marks the second time the event has been held at Cougar Woods Dining Commons, after it moved from the M.D. Anderson Library earlier this year where the event had been held since 2008.

The fall semester’s Finals Mania welcomed 793 students – a mix of residential, commuters, graduate, and undergraduate – over the course of three hours. Students feasted on breakfast goodies like pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage links and patties, chicken tenders, and roasted potatoes to name a few.

While the event is a long-standing tradition, something new for this year was the addition of a deejay to welcome in the students. The music, provided by DJ Fresh AF, permeated throughout Cougar Woods Dining Hall.

Freshman Jada Smith attended her first Finals Mania, and the health major came away impressed.

“I will give it a 10 out of 10,” said Smith. “The food was good, the energy was up there. The music was great. I had a great time.”

The event provided an environment for students to forget about Finals for a short time and Smith is appreciative of that.

“It takes the stress off so [this event] helps,” said Smith.

Graduate student Alessandra Alvarado, another first-time Finals Mania attendee, had no idea what to expect from the event. The engineering data science major said the event was a much-needed break from the long study sessions she had been partaking in.

“This is a great way to de-stress our mind. Taking breaks are very important for students because we can relax for a bit,” said Alvarado.

Electrical engineering sophomore Jose Villeda said Finals Mania was a great way for the university to show how much they care by creating this free event. And much like Alvarado, the sophomore noted the event got him out of his study session for a much-needed short break.

“I think [this event] is very helpful, just to clear your mind after being stuck in your room, studying and staring at screens, computers and books,” said Villeda.

For first-time attendees, Finals Mania proved to be just what they needed during a study-heavy week.