In case you didn’t notice, from 11 am to 3 pm on October 5th, the O’Neill Plaza was a lot busier than usual. And by a lot busier I mean there was this amazing event promoting the importance of student health and all the on-campus resources available to students.
Healthapalooza’s purpose was to kick-off the recent creation of the Office of Health Promotion. The event was planned as a way to make students aware of the new initiatives, such as the “Be Chill” campaign, and link students to health and wellness resources available to them. The new campaign hopes to encourage students to participate in activities that will bring about healthy lifestyles while in college. And hopefully, give some valuable tips and information on healthy living for the future.
Healthapalooza was meant to bring the students and the faculty running these resources together, and to celebrate healthy choices and activities in a fun way. And it was definitely a success! I was a volunteer giving out free t-shirts and by 11:30 am, we had run out of smalls and were running low on mediums! I was especially amazed (and impressed) at the amount of freshman volunteers for the event.
The event had 10 stations featuring different aspects of a healthy lifestyle. You could grab a five-minute nap in a hammock at one station or fill up a shopping bag with free healthy snacks at the next.
“My favorite part of it was the hammock-bed,” Jessika Parry A&S’14, said with a smile.
The event also offered a yoga class and the option of learning different workout techniques (featuring our very own Her Campus BC Campus Correspondent and work-out guru Julianne Wojno!). If fitness isn’t your thing, you could have signed up for a massage to help melt away the stress of midterms.
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Yes, I did just say massage. And a free one, too. There was also a stress wall where students could write down things that caused them to feel stressed and possible solutions to this stress.
Students wrote down what stressed them out and how they could deal with these issues.
“I never thought I would see Baldwin getting a back massage,” Katie Fuccillo A&S’13, laughed.
Inside the big tent, students could explore and learn more about Student EMS, UGBC, the Women’s Resource Center, Counseling Services, and the Office of Mission and Ministry. And just outside the tent, BCPD was administering sobriety tests, with goggles that basically made you walk like a drunken person. SO funny to watch!
An officer watches as a student attempts to pass a field sobriety test.
To get a free t-shirt (‘Super Healthy Fan’ shirts!) students needed to have a ‘Backstage Pass’ card hole-punched at five of these events. Except if you’re Baldwin, of course. I gave him a free t-shirt; except the poor guy has a large head, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get the shirt over it. He eventually got it on though and came back to high-five me!
Students needed to have five of the 10 stations hole-punched to pick up a free t-shirt.
Can I also mention the amount of SWAG? Whoa! Baldwin and the BC Cheerleaders were spicing up the event with some BC spirit. They were handing out Baldwin-shaped stress balls, erm I mean, eagles. There was some pretty dope BC sunglasses being passed out, as well as magnets, stickers, and even a ‘Kiss Me, I’m Sober’ UGBC t-shirt. And for you frozen-yogurt fans out there, I hope you enjoyed the delicious mango and strawberry samples offered. Mhmm!
“I also liked how they had a ton of information about the Office of Health Promotion. They made getting information fun. They didn’t just give out free stuff, they made sure people were learning about it too,” Parry added.
At each station students had access to an abundance of information and resources related to health issues; such as stress reduction, nutrition, fitness and exercise, and spiritual health.
“Healthapalooza was really fun!” Fuccillo said.
List of Resources and Organizations involved with Healthapalooza:
Alcohol and Drug Education
Athletics
Baldwin the Eagle
BC Cheerleaders
Bookstore
Boston College Police Department
Campus Ministry
Center for Student Formation
Counseling Services
Dining Services
Flynn Recreation Complex (The Plex)
Health Services
Nutrition Education and Counseling
Office of Health Promotion
Office of Mission and Ministry
Sexual Assault Network Support Services
Student EMS
UGBC
Women’s Resource Center
Photo Sources:
Maggie Burdge