Hoping to spread wellness and self-care awareness across campuses, Northeastern hosted the annual Wellness Week from March 11 to 15. Throughout the week, student clubs and the university collaborated across Northeastern’s global campus network for events such as mental health lectures, menu takeovers, aromatherapy, dorm plant distribution and therapy dog meet-and-greets.
On the Wellness Week website, Northeastern describes wellness as maintaining an “emotional, social, intellectual, physical, environmental, spiritual, occupational, and financial well-being.” With this, the university spent the week encouraging students to have “well-balanced” and “joyful” lives.
Many student organizations set up tables along Krentzman Quad and Centennial Common throughout the semester to raise money and offer services, but their efforts during Wellness Week cater specifically to the mental health of students.
“I think that there is an emphasis on a lot of activities and general awareness,” said Anamika Pusalkar, a first-year criminal justice and psychology combined major.
One of the most popular events took place March 14 on Robinson Quad, in which the Resident Student Association, or RSA, and the Northeastern University Botanical Society, or NUBS, handed out free plants to students. Fausta Fenner, RSA’s vice president for programming and collaboration and a second-year computer engineering major, said that, to her, wellness is about establishing a needed balance.
“For me personally, it’s hard to find balance sometimes when it comes to classes and devoting time to other things,” Fenner said. “I think within a lot of different student groups, the students themselves are a great community and prioritize wellness.”
Along with passing out treats, heating pads and plants, Northeastern offered a variety of workshops, ranging from journaling to spirituality workshops for students to try.
One of these workshops was offered by Dr. AK Wright, a faculty affiliate for Northeastern’s LGBTQA Resource Center, who opened a free discussion on the meaning of wellness March 15. Wright’s presentation was set in the welcoming space of the LGBTQA resource center, where they presented on the intricacies of rejuvenation and appreciation.
“Everyone deserves a nap, time for yoga, to have a therapist if they need therapy or access to a garden and reconnect with the earth,” Wright said. “Why shouldn’t we indulge ourselves in these?”
In the midst of academic competition, stressful assignments and looming tests, students and teachers alike took a moment to ground themselves and indulge in the things that make them feel rejuvenated.
