For most students, finals are synonymous with stress, so Student Support Services is offering a Brown Bag lunch event designed to help students overcome their anxieties.

Learning Support Specialist Mary Turner will discuss strategies for finals from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, in CU1, located near the general dining area.

Turner said when a student feels overwhelmed or helpless, making the decision to take control can be difficult, but taking this step is essential.

Taking an active role in managing the pressures in our lives can drastically reduce ongoing stress, she said.

Whether a student is on the edge of passing a class or just feeling panicky over finals, Turner said, stress can worsen the situation.

Stress can shut people down and keep them from doing their best, she said.

“The key to managing stress and being successful in the world is control,” Turner said.

“Whatever you can identify in your life that you can control for that period of time is going to eliminate the stress related to that area.”

Turner will go through different ways to survive the end of the semester, such as taking care of one’s health, identifying and avoiding stressors, and taking advantage of available resources on campus.

She also will discuss methods to prevent future stressful situations.

The Brown Bag sessions can be valuable in unexpected ways, Turner said.

Advice students have heard again and again can have an impact for the first time because it’s relevant to their lives in that moment, she said.

“We don’t know what we don’t know until someone shows us,” Turner said.

For more information, call Turner at 405-682-7544 or by email at mturner@occc.edu.