Wellness Booth Success
In my last blog post, I explained how my class’s community project was to set up a wellness booth. Through this project, I used the nudge concept, social contagion, from Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein book Nudge. To summarize, we prepared a wellness booth in order to spread awareness on mental health and provide a stress-free space for students passing by. Our wellness booth consisted of different stations in hopes to spread awareness on mental health and provide an opportunity to destress students. We offered students a chance to listen to the sound booth, to participate in our arts and crafts station, or write grateful notes and post it on the board. The purpose of the wellness booth is to see if the activities, such as the sound booth and arts and crafts, can nudge anxious individuals towards intentional relaxation.
So, one may think on how the theory of social contagion was seen in this project. First, as a student, if I were to see a group of ten to fifteen students sitting on the grass drawing or writing post-it notes on a board I would be intrigued. I would be nudged to look over and see what was happening. That is exactly what happened! As students were quickly walking to their classrooms they suddenly slowed down to read our sign or to see what we were doing. Even though some students passing by refused to come by the booth, they still looked curious as to what was happening, which is still a nudge. A common observation of an idea, such as our wellness booth, nudges individuals to also follow along. Following others is a contagious act that individuals instinctively have. So, by having students stop by our booth while passing will make others seem curious and nudged to also look.
Glad to say that our wellness booth was a success. One activity that we had planned was to write grateful notes and stick them on a board. So, as people passed by, they saw what other students had written and they too were intrigued and wanted to write something. I noticed that those who participated in the activities or specifically wrote what they are grateful for left our booth with a smile on their face.
The purpose of including activities was to create a positive space, in hopes of uplifting emotion and decreasing anxiety or stress. During the stressful times of midterms and finals, I think that this was very beneficial. Not only were we putting a smile on a students or professors face, but we were also informing them of the different techniques and exercise available to destress. Since stress is apparent amongst college students and is contagious, especially during finals week, it is crucial to take a moment to reflect and relax. This may be done by writing what you are grateful for, listening to music, or doing some arts and crafts. So, if you want to destress a little what is your go-to activity to relax?
