University of Canberra student Kaitlyn Gillies this week rated her stress levels a 12 out of 10.
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The second-year Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Arts student has two exams coming up and a major writing assessment due on Friday - and with just 500 out of a potential 10,000 words written, she has a couple of long days ahead.
The company of cute baby animals helped Ms Gillies remember a life outside the classroom when mobile petting zoo Noah's Ark Farm Friends visited the university's Bruce campus on Wednesday.
"It really does help you destress because you see these animals and one, they're cute, and two, you just think life's great when you don't have assessment, you can chill at a petting zoo," she said.
The University of Canberra has marked Stress Less Week with a series of free activities.
Students were given free hot chocolate and coffee on Monday, and on Tuesday they enjoyed a free barbecue and a visit from Delta Therapy dogs.
UC Life campus manager Megan Rodd said each event was aimed at helping students take their mind off impending exams.
"A lot of our events we've had animals involved, which students seem to really appreciate, and it's the type of event where they can drop in for five minutes rather than take a whole hour or two of their day," she said.
"Studying obviously is important but you can't overwork yourself and do 12 hours straight, you need to take a break, so grab a coffee, pat an animal, read a book or go for a walk or something."
Noah's Ark Farm Friends owner Cathy Rogers said her travelling menagerie - which on Wednesday included calves, kids, baby chickens, rabbits, ducks and guinea pigs - particularly appealed to interstate students who missed their pets.
"Some are international students who have never seen any of these animals or touched them, so it's a great educational moment for them as well as relieving the stress," she said.
And the reaction was sometimes emotional: "We sometimes get tears and we get a lot of 'aw'."
Sport science and nutrition student Kevin Santo, watching a sweet kid play with hay, said he'd had his head stuck in books for days.
"I've been sitting in my room most of the time," he said.
"I came down here today and was like 'sure, why not, let's have some fun with animals'.
"I just don't want to fail."