EMU Women’s Resource Center holds a Self-Love Workshop to teach fun and easy ways to take care of yourself mentally and physically.
On Thursday, Oct. 12 and the third event of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The WRC has plenty of programs, workshops, and discussions on concepts related to domestic violence in the upcoming weeks called Healthy Relationships, DV & Reproductive Justice, and Communication Styles.
The workshop, running from 6p.m. to 8p.m., had six tables, each with a different activity. There were do-it-yourself face scrubs, a coloring station, self-care inventory checklists, time management worksheets, a Henna station, and a station to write love letters to yourself. It was an open workshop for anybody to come and go as they please – there was as many as 15 people at a time in the room at different stations.
Special events coordinator for the WRC Mindy Holmes said her and major events programmer Sanyu Lukwago partnered together to plan the event.
“I want them to learn the importance of self-care and to learn just the importance of their own existence,” Holmes said. “I know it sounds really cheesy but I just want people to come and love on themselves because it can be really hard and people can just forget.”
According to Amherst College’s website, college students don’t prioritize self-care. Often times when students feel overwhelmed and stressed, self-care is the last thing that’s on their mind.
Shelby Hallenbeck is a second year full-time graduate student at EMU and a graduate assistant for a Writing 120 course. She said she was experiencing stress from her responsibilities and decided to attend the workshop after finding it on the EMU calendar.
“Think of yourself as a cup, if you let it overflow it’s just going to get worst… and once it overflows it’s like you’re passed the point of no return,” Hallenbeck said. “It can lead to break down if you don’t take care of yourself.”
According to Active Minds’ website, mental health issues are prevalent in college students, sometimes impacting abilities to succeed. Almost one third of all college students report having felt so depressed that they had trouble functioning. Active Minds’ is a nonprofit organization to empower students speaking out about mental health issues.
Sarah Lemke, a junior majoring in occupational therapy at EMU, came to the workshop because she is part of the VISION Volunteer Center. It is one of the four centers of diversity and community involvement. The other three are the Center for Multicultural Affairs, LGBT Resource Center, and the Women’s Resource Center. They often support each other in their events and programs.
Lemke referred her self-care as in “the back burner all the time” and it’s easy to forget to do simple things like eating regularly. She said she’s happy the workshop provides quick ways to care about yourself and do on your own time.
Candice Crutcher, a student programmer for the Center for Multicultural Affairs, said her self-care method is doing her hair or reading a book. She looks forward to the Healthy Relationships event because “a lot of people don’t realize what a healthy relationship is and what’s normal and what’s not normal.”
Healthy Relationships is the upcoming event on the Domestic Violence Awareness Month calendar and it will be on Oct. 16 from 5:30 p.m. to 7p.m. in room 320 of the student center.
