The future of Wofford Wellness Days
Wellness Days, coloring books and pressed juices were among the amenities given to Wofford students during the 2020-2021 academic year. As the world continues to open up, the prioritization of mental health disappearing is a fear among students.
In the past year, over 55% of college-aged adults reported having depressive disorder symptoms, according to the CDC. Will Wofford continue to support the well-being of the students without wellness days? Or will it be on the student to feel comfortable enough to reach out for help?
The implementation of Wellness Days allowed for students to take a deep breath during a school year with fewer breaks in the calendar, an implication of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Wellness Days, professors were encouraged to not hold classes or to not give major assignments. Activities focused on providing students with a break were also held throughout the day.
After being in quarantine for over a year and a sense of normalcy is returning, what resources will Wofford students have?
Kellie Buckner, a counselor in the Wellness Center, said that Wellness Days “were days designated in the Spring (of the 2020-2021 academic year) to encourage students (and all members of the Wofford community) to take care of themselves in the midst of a stressful and unusual time.”
Even though students will be given more breaks throughout the year, Buckner went on to mention that Wellness Days will be continued this school year but will be altered slightly. These new Wellness Days are still being planned but will be beginning in the near future.
“We hope that there will be enough variety of activities and times that people will be able to participate in some ways, regardless of their class schedules and workloads,” Buckner said.
When asked about her experience with the Wellness Center and mental health on Wofford’s campus, Matilda Redfern ’23 said, “(I) honestly really didn’t know we had therapists/counselors on campus until Covid started.”
When Redfern began her time at Wofford, she wished more information about counselors would have been present. “My first semester at Wofford was hard and I had a lot of down moments… If information about therapists had been more widely available and posted everywhere, I think I would have gone to see them.”
When specifically asked about Wellness Days, Redfern said that, in theory, it was an amazing idea, however, the execution could have been better. She explained that many of her friends still had class and major assignments. She considers herself lucky for not ever having class on these days, but her professors would assign more work for the following days in order to make up for it.
Some other students, who requested to remain anonymous, found that Wellness Days were great and allowed for a time of relaxation or to even schedule a counseling appointment with the Wellness Center.
Besides individual counseling, the Wellness Center offers group options like SAFE, a program for survivors of sexual assault that meets once a month. To schedule an appointment with the Wellness Center, students can visit https://wofford.medicatconnect.com. 24/7 Mental Health Crisis Line: (864) 597-4393