On Friday, October 10, the Wellness Center hosted its first lunchtime art activity of the year: a fun watercolor session where students designed and painted their own fairy mushroom houses.
The Wellness Center is partnered with the organization Art House, which sends them video walkthroughs on art projects, Wellness Center Liaison and Wellness Coach Storm McNerney said. The Wellness Center chooses from different art styles and provides supplies, she added.
“I am getting feedback from students to try to offer more activities that students want to see in the Wellness Center as well,” McNerney said. “This one just felt like a good one to start with, considering the time of the year. Now that the school year is getting real for a lot of students and the stress is starting to come on, we’re glad to start offering these relaxing activities again.”
Freshman Chaitra Anga visited the Wellness Center for something to do at lunch. She visits whenever it’s open and spends time talking to Ms. Storm, she added.
“I was pretty skeptical at first too (about visiting the Wellness Center), but I feel like it grows on you,” Anga said. “The more you start coming, the more you feel like coming here all the time. If you start opening up to anyone, it feels better here.”
Junior Oakley Jensen had heard about the workshop before and thought it sounded relaxing and fun, they said. Participating in the activity made them feel more relaxed, they added.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad at art, as long as you feel calm and do something that comforts you,” Jensen said. “That’s why the Wellness Center is here.”
McNerney was blown away with what students were able to create in the 15 to 20 minutes they had during lunch to do the activity, she said.
“Some students are really in their head about their artistic abilities and skills and whatnot, but then they create something really awesome and even beautifully done within a short span of time,” McNerney said. “And that’s always what’s really, really cool to see.”
Since it’s their first activity of the year, she wasn’t sure what to expect, McNerney said. But since this one was successful, she’s going to try to book J-16, since there’s more space there than in the Wellness Center, she added.
“It’s hard to predict because sometimes what we think might be popular might not have the greatest turnout, and vice versa,” McNerney said. “We do try to accommodate as many visitors as we can. We understand that we do have limited space and supplies, and there’s 3,000 students here, so we’re trying to find ways to fit as many students as we can.”
They want to give students a space to artistically express themselves and just relax, McNerney said.
“We try to invite students and encourage them, because they don’t have to provide any of their own supplies,” McNerney said. “All they have to really do is just show up and claim their spot. Some of our events can get kind of busy. I’m always saying it’s first-come first serve, so students should always arrive early to claim their spots, especially for popular events.”
The Wellness Center is currently trying to map out activities for the rest of the semester, McNerney said. They’re likely collaborating with the Get Psyched club to do a Halloween activity, she added.
“A lot of our events are probably going to be arts and crafts,” McNerney said. “But I’m also trying to get more games. I want to try to do something more tournament style, like I’m trying to get more Uno decks to maybe do a big Uno game, because that could be really fun.”
