I am a member of the Morrill Scholars Holistic Well being mentor team. Our goal is to promote first-year Morrill Scholars to understand the various aspects of wellness in their lives and how to improve them. We thought a great way for them to de-stress before their first round of finals would be to have a painting event.
This event took a lot of planning. The 6 members of the mentor team had to come up with a budget for the items we wanted to include, think of theme the event should be centered around, and make a flyer for it. I was tasked with making the flyer and ended up making something that everyone liked. The theme we eventually came up with was growth. With this, we decided that it would only make sense for them to paint flower pots and then grow plants out of those pots to represent their growth in whatever holistic realm they desired. We then came up with a budget for food, flower pots, dirt, seeds and paint.
The actual event had a big turnout. The painting skills of many students were really highlighted. I was amazed by the ideas that people were coming up with for their designs. Not only was creativity expressed, but the event became a way for students to mingle. Finals week can be very daunting, and being social is the last thing many people want to do, but the event allowed for students to discuss their finals and resonate with each other on their fears or stress.
Overall it was fun and the message behind the program was well presented. I am glad that I had a part in helping first year students understand the importance of having a calm mindset for finals.