Sundays at SMU are usually pretty quiet around campus, especially after a big Saturday with a boulevard and game against Cincinnati. Most students spend their Sundays doing their homework, laundry, or resting up for the week ahead.

That was the vibe around the Armstrong-Crum commons on Sunday around 3 p.m. Very few students were quietly going about their business, until about 15 minutes later when a group of students with balloons, a table, ice cream, soda and a bullhorn emerge from the Armstrong dorm.

They are the members of the Armstrong Commons Council, a group of students who put together events for those who live in the new Armstrong dorm and aim to help bring students together.

“Every month we [celebrate] a random small holiday and birthdays,” said spirit coordinator Kay Rodgers. “We do something probably every week.”

This month’s holiday was “Evaluate Your Life Day”, an event to celebrate optimism. Students were encouraged to write down their stresses and tie them to a balloon then release them into the sky. The organizers of the event frequently broke into “Let it Go,” a song from the summer’s smash hit Frozen. After all the balloons were let go, students could also say their stresses into a megaphone to shout them out and get it off their chest.

Many of the students stopped by the table on their way back to their dorm after the day’s activity. Students carrying backpacks and Starbucks cups back from a study session, and others in their spandex and glistening fresh from the gym, all took a second to release some of their stress into the universe.

After their stresses were released, the students were given a small slip of paper with a positive message, like treat yourself or spend time with those you love, a root beer float or cold glass of lemonade, and a cookie. The event was designed to relieve stress, but also help the residents feel appreciated.

“I’m honestly just having a lot of stress about my classes right now, and I was happy to do something to let go of it,” said first-year Armstrong resident Haley Ware. This was a sentiment echoed by many of the students at the event, who were stressed about school and college life and were relieved to let it go.