Wellness-related booths lined the halls of Upper Olmsted on the afternoon of Oct. 29 for WellCon. Upper Olmsted buzzed with chatter as students and community members walked around the room, chatting with the organizers about different types of wellness, including physical, mental and spiritual health.
Every visitor received a checklist to win prizes as well as a free massage. Chicken Caesar salad and vegetable wraps were available for guests, displayed on a long table between the massage and flu shot booths.
Every year, various departments, including the counseling center, Drake Recreational Services and the occupational therapy department, seek to create a meaningful wellness experience at Wellness Conference. The conference is focused on engaging students in various experiences of wellness critical to their health and well-being.
Gail Witte, assistant director of recreational services, helped organize the conference. She managed the event and called organization members for tabling opportunities.
“I don’t know if there are any disadvantages, challenge from organizing this event each year. I am just trying to get people to be involved in the day itself so presenting at the event and also hoping that people will come,” Witte said.
Senior Thomas Robertson tabled for Bulldog Catholic to encourage students to pursue meaningful personal lives by embracing growth in prayer, faith, integrity and service as founded in Jesus Christ.
“We just hope that students can take advantage of not neglecting their spiritual wellness, but really understanding how important it is to have healthy spiritual wellness,” Robertson said.
Spiritual wellness is one of the six dimensions of wellness that the event sought to highlight. The others included physical, emotional, social, intellectual and occupational. Booths fell under one or more categories.
Junior Anna Wilson was tabling for Students for Reproductive Justice, a student organization that advocates for reproductive rights, sex education and contraception access on campus. The organization attended WellCon to educate students on preventing and testing for sexually transmitted infections and diseases.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions around the use of condoms for college-age students,” Wilson said. “I think a lot of people only see them as being needed to prevent pregnancy, which is just not true.”
Screen time also plays into student health. According to the CDC, students with high levels of screen time are most likely experiencing a decrease in their physical and mental activity. Allison Anderson, a student pursuing a doctorate in occupational therapy, raised awareness about students’ screen time at WellCon.
“A lot of people underestimate themselves and their screen time. I want them to find some ways to decrease screen time or at least make it more healthy,” Anderson said.
Drake Wellness Conference draws on diverse expertise to create experiences that are valuable and applicable to the student population through various dimensions of wellness.
“I hope that they can walk away with some ideas on how to improve any areas of wellness that they feel like need improvement in,” Witte said.
