On March 5, 2018, Western Women in Leadership, Her Campus Western, and the USC teamed up to bring Western a Wellness Symposium aimed towards women.
From 10:00 am to 3:30 pm, Western students were invited to come to the Mustang Lounge and participate in multiple events that promoted women’s mental and physical health and wellness. These events included free massages from registered massage therapists, booths featuring a variety of USC clubs and local London organizations, and an hour-long speaker panel highlighting successful women in the health and media industries.
From left to right: Holly Dunne, Ella Purtill, Gillian Mandich, Jillian Walsh, Emma Jack, Rachel Ettinger, Becca Serena
The three panelists—Emma Jack, a sports physiotherapist with six years experience; Jillian Walsh, a registered dietician who specializes in eating disorders; and Gillian Mandich, a current PhD candidate in Health Sciences—were moderated by Virgin Radio London host Rachel Ettinger.
The four women discussed various health and wellness topics such as self-care, the influence social media has on health, and tips on how to stay on top of life. Each panelist got a chance to share her personal opinions and beliefs on the topics being discussed. The moderator, Ettinger, even shared some of her own advice. The audience found the information informative, important, and inspiring.
One of the audience members, Chantal Hermetz, a second-year student studying media, information and technoculture, thoroughly enjoyed the panel. “I’ve always loved going to events like the Women’s Wellness Symposium. Listening to brilliant women speak on a panel about similar struggles of competition, insecurities and lack of self-care really showed me just how normal some of the issues I face regularly are. Hearing that these successful women face the same daily issues that I do really just reminds me that I can get where I want to be regardless of the challenges I’ll face.”
Hermetz noted that her favourite part of the panel “was nutritionist Jilian Walsh’s approach to complimenting people. Instead of telling someone ‘hey, your hair looks really good,’ we should be focusing on the non-tangibles like ‘hey, I love how outgoing you are.’ Things like that really make you think about how you can better yourself by bringing others up with you.”
USC clubs and other organizations that participated in the event by hosting a booth include This Mind of Mine, Western Women in Leadership, EnviroWestern, Women’s Issues Network, Here for Her, Pad 4 People, The Vegan Society, Dance Force UWO, and Her Campus Western. Clubs and organizations gave out free goodies to attending students, promoted their services or clubs, and shared information on wellness and health.
Western Women in Leadership president and Her Campus Western executive, Holly Dunne, was very pleased with how the event panned out. “I think ultimately the day went great! We had free massages thanks to the generosity of some local RMTs [registered massage therapists] which I think attendees really enjoyed, plus the panel had a great turnout. The organizations that participated all brought a huge amount of value to the event and I’m really happy to say we were able to collaborate with so many students on campus to make it happen!” Dunne was the leading force behind the event.
Her Campus looks forward to collaborating with other clubs and organizations in the near future to hold more events focusing on women’s wellness.
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