2020 has been a rough year.
When you take something like college, which has always been challenging, and add in the stresses from COVID-19 and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. It is easier than ever to neglect one’s self and become trapped in the day-to-day stress and responsibilities.
The Citizen Scholar program is designed not only to challenge students, but also to support them. For that reason, the staff of Citizen Scholars wanted to have an event devoted to self care and mental health, a community where students could come together and have a space to rant or distract themselves from the messiness of their day.
The event began with every attendee checking in on themselves, which is a critical element of self care. As the scholars at the event discussed, self care is any action that’s intentionally done for one’s own benefit.
It’s important to remember the saying, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” Eventually, you’ll run out of steam if you keep chugging along at all of your tasks, so you have to take time to replenish.
The students at the event shared what they like to do to take care of themselves and shared music, books, and TV recommendations.
Although it’s not ideal to have to meet in a virtual space, having a fun and relaxed conversation with other students is an amazing way for students to feel reenergized and be social in a safe, supportive environment.
Especially for first-year students, events like these allow them to meet their peers and feel some sense of community no matter how far they are from campus. It’s a small part in making MSU feel like home and making digital learning feel a little more personal.