Kent State of Well-being and the Flash Activities Board (FAB) collaborated for Wellness Wednesday in the REC Center Mall to bring awareness to National Recovery Month, which falls in September. 

FAB and Kent State of Well-Being collaborated to encourage positive self-talk with a craft: self-love jars. Madalynn Wagner, a member of FAB, said these jars are important. 

“Just picking out a self-affirmation reminds you that you are capable,” she said. “Even though you have self-doubt.”

The Wellness Hut was set up so students could come and go freely. Students could grab a jar, decorate it and write their own affirmations to read later. Pamphlets with campus resources were also available at the hut. One of these resources, The Collegiate Recovery Community, helps students dealing with substance use recovery through support meetings and social events. 

“There’s science that links positive relationship between positive self-talk and helping people who are in recovery,” said Mary Nern, graduate assistant of Kent State Well-being. “But also in general has a positive impact on mental health.”

“If you have positive coping skills the chances of you turning back towards substances are lower,” said Nern. “We wanted to give people an easy outlet for incorporating those skills.”

Last week, Kent State of Well-being brought in a speaker from Counseling and Psychological services (CAPS) to go over substance use with students. This Wednesday was a continuation of that event, but with softer subject matter.

Wellness Wednesdays are held by Kent State of Well-being every week with different activities that cover different topics. Kent State of Well-being brings in experts to speak in addition to their resource table. 

Next week they will pair with the Academic Success Center to discuss their services and create thank you notes to show appreciation for those that help students succeed.

Willow Jernigan is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].