By: Maria Genovezos, Community Journalist
GALLOWAY — The Stockton Entertainment Team and Stockton University’s Wellness Center hosted a Winter Wellness event on Thursday, Feb. 26.
The event offered a space for students to connect, network, and learn about physical and mental wellness.
College is a major transition for students. Regardless of whether they are adult learners or traditional students, the intense academic pressure, financial stress, and social and emotional challenges can impact a student’s mental health.
Winter Wellness Day provided students with over 60 vendors, including Atlantic Community Wellness Center, Atlantic City Free Public Library, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Center, and Planned Parenthood.
During the event, students were able to decompress with a free lunch, hot cocoa, a tea bar, stress relievers, giveaways, and health tips to combat the winter blues.
Anton Shupiko, a student at Stockton University with a major in communications, attended the event. While cruising around the vendors and receiving information, he was also networking.
“I saw some good opportunities that could help me further my career in media studies,” Shupiko said.
His classmate, Isabella Norton, is a third-year communications major with a minor in public health. She enjoyed the hot cocoa and took this opportunity to build relationships and seek out possible career opportunities.
Stanford Medicine stood out to her from a networking perspective, and she had good conversations revolving around employment.
“I feel like people don’t really expect things to be a networking space, but everything is networking when you think about it,” Norton said.
While networking, Norton found Planned Parenthood made the biggest impression.
“We had a really good conversation about abortion policies,” Norton said. “We talked about Roe v. Wade being overturned, and it was a little emotional, let’s just say.”
Guest Speaker, Nick Maccarone, a licensed therapist and mental health advocate, spoke at the event, where he shared his own personal growth, experiences, and provided professional insight on mental health.
His clinical background offered students practical strategies on how to navigate emotional and stressful challenges and break the stigma around mental health.
“I think you could help one person, that butterfly effect that can happen can affect a thousand people positively. It was one of the big reasons I wanted to become a therapist,” Maccarone said.
Maccarone’s speech connected with students through his personal experience, providing validation of students’ challenges and reminding them that they’re not alone.
Fellow Stockton student, Josiah Bridges, felt connected and more informed on how to navigate his personal struggles after listening to Maccarone’s speech.
“I feel more knowledgeable about how to deal with my own anxiety, mostly because I have a lot of problems with pushing myself through doors to get things done,” Bridges said. “His talking about his experience with not being able to leave his house had me think more about how I am dealing with my own problems, so I did take a lot of value from his presentation.”
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