On Wednesday Oct. 5, Student Involvement hosted a health and wellbeing fair in the Seawolf Plaza to give students the tools to keep their bodies and minds in good enough shape to grind out the rest of the fall semester. At the height of the event, the plaza was packed with students. The temperature was perfect and the sun was glistening. Students from all grades showed up to gather these tools and tips from various clubs. 

In an interview with the STAR senior and business major, Adrian Barreto shared his thoughts about the benefits of attending the fair. “I never knew that this fair was a thing. I am so glad that I had noticed it when walking to class. I also never knew how many resources and people there are to reach out to. I was also very happy to see the amount of younger students who were out there and going around to all the tables. I can’t remember whether this was offered when I was a freshman, but I would’ve loved to have had something like this available. But at least I was able to experience it.” 

Mo Phillips, the director of Student Involvement, had a hand in putting the fair together, mainly led by the recreation center. “I am always happy to be in the plaza during these fairs. It is amazing to see some campus life and for students to learn more about the people in our Sonoma State neighborhood. These fairs are also both social and educational, passive and active ways for the community to learn more about , in this case wellness, but next week Wednesday Oct. 12, we will be hosting the sustainability fair with some new information, campus partners and opportunities to learn,” said Phillips. 

The preparation for the event wasn’t anything unusual. When asked what her role was for preparation, Phillips said, “Typically we will reach out to campus entities that have the Health and Wellbeing of our community in mind, so the health center, CAPS, recreation center, and Care team are important, but also we wanted to promote wellness in a variety of areas…..mental health, physical health, spiritual, financial, social well being, self awareness etc.”

For every event she puts on, Phillips mentioned she tries to make the event as appealing as possible. She tried to give an incentive to students to draw them into checking out the event. She went on to say, “We also had Swirltime there for a sweet treat but yogurt is also a healthy sweet treat. Lastly, we typically have some type of gimmick or draw….the sweet treats, free hot dogs for the club fair, raffles where students can win just by visiting tables. When they visit the tables, they get raffle tickets that they can enter into drawings for prizes….this time was a yoga mat set, himalayan salt lamp, and some earbuds.” 

In terms of upcoming events for students, Phillips said that there will be a sustainability fair this Wednesday Oct. 12. Campus partners and new opportunities to learn will be present as well.