Galloway, N.J. – Amidst a dreary and rainy Thursday afternoon, a ray of light shone in the Campus Center Event Room as hundreds of Stockton University students enjoyed a day of relaxation and education at the annual Wellness Day fair on March 20.

Wellness Day is a program sponsored by the university’s Wellness Center that encourages students, faculty and staff to get connected to mental and physical health resources both on and off campus. Among the more than 60 vendors were organizations such as the Mental Health Association of New Jersey, Atlantic Prevention Resources, Tobacco Free New Jersey, Southern Jersey Family Medical Center and Planned Parenthood.

In addition to resources, students had the opportunity to participate in activities focused on this year’s theme of rest and relaxation. Activities included guided yoga, massages and meditation. When students weren’t chatting among themselves or participating in the activities, they perused the tables and received both free information and gifts.  

“I thought the fair was a lot of fun with a lot of interesting stands and cool freebies, especially the Henna tattoos. The line was pretty long, but it went really fast,” said Marine Biology major Ozzie Southall, of Pennington. “I remember they held something like this during finals to destress last year. I really like these events.”

This year’s Wellness Day was the first for Nursing students Isabella Edwards, of Williamstown, and John Yuen, of Mays Landing.

“I wanted to check it out and see all of the different vendors and everything. It’s been really nice and very educational. I feel like there’s a lot of things that people can learn from here,” Edwards said. “I appreciated learning about the different causes of breast cancer and how it’s prevalent in women regardless of age, and it’s really good to know that things like smoking and drinking are some causes for it. This is just really good information for people to know.” 

“We went to class, and our professor actually told us to come here to promote self-care for ourselves,” Yuen said. “I went to a Narcan table, and it was a really great resource to learn more about, as I think (overdosing) is a huge crisis in our country right now. There were a lot of resources, and I think it's great that this is available to students here.”

According to Kristen Welsh-Capaldi, a Wellness Center health educator, events like Wellness Day have been instrumental in connecting students with resources and encouraging them to better understand the eight dimensions of wellness (physical, spiritual, social, emotional, intellectual, occupational, environmental and financial).

“What we find is that when students are first coming to campus, they miss information. When we go into classrooms and do professor-requested presentations, a lot of them don't know what the services are. So, for every program we run, we go over all the services and tell them that we’re here for them,” said Welsh-Capaldi, who has worked at Stockton since 2007. “It’s all about meeting those needs and filling in the gaps.”

Welsh-Capaldi also acknowledged the important role peer educators play in the Wellness Center’s programs and initiatives. For Wellness Day, 10 peer educators solicited vendors, promoted the event through social media, collected data through surveys and face-to-face feedback, and even tabled for the center.

“I couldn't do this job without them. That’s what makes me wake up and go to work every day – working with these students. It’s just so fulfilling,” Welsh-Capaldi said.

JerseyDrive’s CRASH Project

This year’s event also served as an unofficial kick-off for the Wellness Center’s campaign against impaired driving. With advisement from the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey (BIANJ), the center will represent Stockton in JerseyDrive’s College Roads and Safety Habits (CRASH) Project, a peer-to-peer educational and awareness program on the importance of safe driving.

According to JerseyDrives, car crashes are a leading cause of both death and disability for college-age students, with 8.5% of all crash fatalities in New Jersey among young adults aged 18 to 24.

Through the project, the center aims to inform and educate the campus community through additional on-campus events, such as Wellness Day and its social media campaign. The project’s next event, “Brain Safety Matters,” will take place in the lower E-wing gallery starting at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 26.

Students are also encouraged to sign the center’s petition, which aims to collect more than 100 signatures pledging to be safe drivers both on and off campus.

“Students are a little more prone to distracted driving — some are on their phones, not stopping completely at stop signs, or not following the speed limit because they’re late to class and need to find a parking spot. And, because we’re a small campus, there are so many crosswalks and students walking everywhere,” said Emily Hagopian, a Public Health major and one of the center’s peer educators. “It’s very important to just slow down, leave your place earlier and drive safer because those five minutes can impact your life drastically.”

– Story by Loukaia Taylor

– Photos by Susan Allen 

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