Parisa Rahbar, a junior Community Health major, hands out different art supplies to all students participating in the Terps After Dark event. Photo by Kimberly Seif.
by Sara Chernikoff
University of Maryland students took a break from their busy schedules Thursday evening to paint, craft and celebrate self-care awareness month at the “Strengthen Your Shell” event hosted by the University Health Center.
For a third consecutive year, the health promotion and wellness services team partnered with Terps After Dark to provide students space and opportunity to de-stress with arts, crafts, food and socializing. Attendees traveled throughout the art studio in the basement of the Stamp Student Union to create essential oil sachets, scrapbooks and express their emotions through painting.
Strengthen Your Shell self-care night is one of many services provided to students by the health promotion and wellness services, according to organizers Shayna Shor and Megan Samuels.
Samuels, a senior psychology major and Shor, a senior behavioral and community health major spent their summer interning for the University Health Center and organized Thursday evening’s activities.
The main focus of Strengthen Your Shell is to share different self-care and stress-relief techniques with students and to spread awareness for the services and resources the health promotion and wellness team has to offer.
According to Samuels, essential oil crafts allow students to be creative, which can build self-esteem. The sensory component helps students slow down their thoughts and relax. It also works as a portable care package.
Along with painting and scrapbooking, a self-care kit station was available for students to pick from.
“A lot of this programming is about letting people choose for themselves,” Samuels said. “We want to give them space in a creative way. We are here to facilitate a positive environment.”
Along with tonight’s event, the health promotion and wellness services team hosts pet-assisted therapy called “Wags for Wellness” and provides stress management consultation open to all students to promote mental health well-being.
“The health center has a lot of great resources and opportunities but there is a missing link between our resources and being able to get them out to as many students as possible,” Shor said.
Vardaan (Vee) Dua a junior psychology major who works at the CARE to Stop Violence office came to support his peers who organized the event. He said that there is a lot of stigma in society surrounding mental health issues.
“I think this event is a great way to promote mental well-being. Now is a time when people start adjusting to the semester and deadlines start coming up, so it’s a good time to start engaging in self-care activities,” Dua said.
Students at the event were hesitant to share any disapproval of the administration’s current work to deal with mental health issues on campus. Dua said he believes the administration could do more to help support the cause.
According to a University Health Center pamphlet, everyday demands of being a student can leave people feeling drained even when everything is going well. The purpose of active self-care is to enhance one’s overall health and wellness while taking time out of the day to care for yourself.
“Self-care is an investment in your health,” Shor said. “How are you going to be able to do your best work if you’re feeling stressed and anxious?”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story was published without attribution to health center material.