Sit down, relax, slow deep breaths in, slow deep breaths out, find that inner peace—and find that little jewelry bead that disappeared in the carpet.

ZPN hosted a jewelry making class on Thursday, Feb. 26 to help students slow down and relax; midterm time is often the busiest time of the semester.

“The great part of doing these events is that it gives students a break,” said Ashlee Fields, chair of ZPN Fine Art, Film and Lecture. “I feel like this is the beginning point in the year where everything is about to get really hectic, and it’s nice to be like: ‘There’s this fun free event. So relax; it’s easy, it will help you.’”

Students in attendance agreed.

“I think this is a really cool activity because it’s a good way to kind of like zone out in the middle of studying a lot,” said freshman Maggie Manges while piecing together a wood-beaded bracelet.

An assortment of wood, glass, and plastic beads lined the tables of the third-floor union room, along with leather cording, string, and hooks.

Each table had different supplies for specific types of jewelry and the instructions for making such jewelry: dollar store wrap bracelets, double-chain knot bracelets, paracords, zigzag bracelets, and more. Students disagreed on which supplies were best.

“I like the wooden beads because they look cooler. You can wear it with anything. Plastic beads are crap and glass beads are too expensive,” Manges said.

Manges’ friend, freshman Cecilia Dahlinger,  sat making a bracelet out of plastic beads.

“I just feel like using wooden beads would be kind of boring. I don’t want to be boring,” Dahlinger said.

Lydia Tomecko, an associate member of ZPN who came to the jewelry class for fun, did not care about which supplies she used; jewelry-making in itself was paramount.

“Making jewelry instills creativity,” Tomecko said. “It allows you to express yourself in a way that is non-harmful, and that leaves something beautiful in its wake.”

33 people came to the class. Ashlee Fields was grateful for the turnout, but knew there could be more.

“It’s a true struggle to get people to come to these events, especially when the weather is cold, and when it is not something that is really eye-catching,” Fields said after referencing an event last semester, a Pinterest art class, which attracted so many students that the entrance doors had to be shut.

Fields usually comes up with event ideas on her own; Thursday’s jewelry class was her second project of the semester.

“Sometimes, I do just come up with the idea. They are like a small little brain-fart; the art classes and self-expression events are like 90 percent me,” Fields said.

Leftovers of the jewelry class will likely be used for a ZPN event next year, according to Fields.

Upcoming ZPN events include a three-day lecture, book-signing, and postcard event with Frank Warren and an April balloon twisting class. More details can be found by visiting <http://www.uakron.edu/studentlife/zpn/>.