Light blue walls, different colored plush toys scattered on plastic foam floor mats, a whiteboard on which you can write whatever you like, a venting ball, and much, much more. All of these are in the “releasing room”, which is on the fourth floor of building No. 11, Xiu Yuan, Peiyang Park Campus of Tianjin University. Opposite to it is a warmly decorated “relaxing room”. The two rooms compose the first de-stressing area in the dormitories of Peiyang Park Campus. After preparation, the de-stressing room was officially opened to students on November 7.
The room has already been patronized by 14 students since the first week of its opening: a senior came to the de-stressing room alone, holding his guitar playing and singing for almost two hours; several friends also came together to have a “fresh experience”, and had a lot of fun here. “I’m already a junior now, yet I haven’t decided whether to become a postgraduate or to find employment. I am under a lot of pressure.” Mr. Yuan, who was visiting the de-stressing room told the journalist, all his roommates are very busy, living life at a fast pace. He came to the de-stressing room to remove himself from this and relax. His pace slowed down for a while, and the room allowed him to calm down and consider his future.
As residence advisor Zhen Chao said, all students are welcome here to release their feelings when they are really feeling stressed, or are stuck in a negative mindset or bad mood. The Psychological Association will be in charge of the design and post-maintenance work of the de-stressing room, while peer psychological counselling courses will also be followed up on later.
The College and Dormitory Accommodation System has been implemented since the operation of Peiyang Park Campus of Tianjin University in 2015. The core conception of the system is to “help students mature and nurture their talent”. The forms of the system architecture include the development of courtyard culture, foyer culture, corridor culture and a culture of elegant decoration. Relying on the system, TJU has built a platform so that public space can play its role in campus life effectively. For example, the activity rooms, book sharing rooms, group building rooms. Through small-scale, multi-session activities in dormitory buildings, it creates a healthy and positive atmosphere in the dormitory to promote the overall quality of students and improve the cultivation of their skills. Take building No.11 in Xiu Yuan as an example: amid a square of dormitory buildings is a courtyard of trees and evergreen shrubbery. Inside the dormitory building, there are reception sofas which are also distributed in the public areas on every floor. In addition to de-stressing rooms, TJU also provides students with self-study rooms, reading and sharing rooms, audio-visual studios, group activity rooms, and other rooms for science and technology activities.
