A group of 10 Marquette students work in the Office of Student Wellness and Health Promotion as Peer Wellness Educators.
These students are trained around the eight pillars of wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, vocational, financial and environmental.
With their training the Peer Wellness Educators meet one-on-one with their fellow students to talk about their overall health and wellness, help with managing stress, time management, school and friends. The educators work with students to help them reach their wellness goals and serve as another layer of accountability.
Charlie McClintock, a senior in the College of Arts and & Sciences and a Peer Wellness Educator, said the group commits themselves to campus wellness both on and off the clock.
“The sense of community has expanded throughout the campus and I like to believe that some of that is thanks to us,” McClintock said.
He said one of their main goals is to create conversation about holistic wellness and offer various services to students. One of the ways the educators do this is by hosting campus events to promote student wellness.
The next event the educators are hosting is Feb. 9 where students can make friendship bracelets.
The event is in the 707 hub in the Office of Student Wellness and Health Promotion Feb.9 from 2-5 p.m.
“The advocacy and promotion of wellness extends past us getting paid. It’s a passion for us and a chance to express what we love, and share that with the community,” McClintock said.
Jenan Halawa, a first-year in the College of Arts and & Sciences and peer wellness educator, said the peer coaching is what makes the program special. She said people are more likely to listen to people in their own age group.
Halawa and McClintock said being a Peer Wellness Educator isn’t just a campus job, they said they both have past experiences that make this job personal.
McClintock said he worked on a teen wellness committee in high school and that inspired him to major in psychology. From there he said he found this job to be a good fit.
Halawa’s past work with survivors of abuse lended itself to being interested in this job.
“I have always been a huge mental health advocate, and a big advocate when it comes to suicide prevention, sexual assault awareness and domestic violence awareness. Finding out that Marquette had an organization where the main goal was to help other college students thrive, that is what I want to do,” Halawa said.
Halawa hopes to become a lawyer someday, and she said she hopes what she learns here can help her be an advocate for clients in her future job.
But regardless of their career aspirations after Marquette McClintock and Halawa want to prioritize the wellness of their peers.
Hawala said one way of being mentally and physically healthy means is taking life slow.
“It means taking your days one moment at a time, being in positions that you enjoy and feel well in, along with balancing your school, work and social life,” Halawa said.
McClintock said for him, wellness means coming to terms with your struggles, and not only being able to identify them but learn from them too.
“Wellness is being able to say, I did not do what I wanted but that is okay because I will try again tomorrow,” McClintock said.
This story was written by Ruby Mulvaney. She can be reached at [email protected].
