Missouri State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance recently celebrated its fourth annual Wellness Week with a variety of new speakers and events.

Held Oct. 7-9 this year, the event included sessions ranging from “Tennis Ball Massage” and “Nutrition for Actors” to “Restorative Yoga,” “Managing Depression” and “Pet Therapy Social Hour.”

Several campus organizations also participated, including the Counseling Center, Disability Resource Center, the Mary Jean Price Walls Multicultural Resource Center and the Career Center.

Assistant Professor Azaria Hogans, Wellness Week committee chair, estimated around 200 people attended the three-day event.

Event organizers added prize giveaways from Laurel Spa and Lash Studio to this year’s lineup, something that students “have been particularly excited about,” Hogans said.

The Pet Therapy Social Hour was another popular event.

“We had lots of students come by to see Boris the cat and Paige the dog,” Hogans said.

Focused on health and balance

Theatre and Dance continues to sponsor Wellness Week because of its mission to educate students about health and balance, Hogans said.

“The purpose of Wellness Week is to make sure students are aware of the resources — both on campus and in the department — related to mental health and wellbeing, and to provide students with some tools on how to balance their overall health,” she said.

“The degrees within our department can be very demanding physically, mentally and emotionally,” Hogans added. “We want our students to be able to thrive as degree-seeking healthy humans.”

Personal motivation drives Hogans

Hogans has been involved with Wellness Week since its inception and has been its committee chair every year as well. To this day, her motivation and drive are personal.

“Health and wellness, both mentally and physically, is very important to me,” she explained. “The year I joined the department, we lost one of our students to a tragedy. I wanted to make sure from then on students had and knew about the resources they needed, whether they were the ones having a hard time or knew someone that was having a hard time.”

Event planners target student wellness interests

Wellness Week started in 2019 informally, Hogans said. In 2020 the program became an official event with a departmental committee and budget.

The committee meets at the beginning of the academic year to plan, discuss potential guests and topics and coordinate scheduling. This year, the committee also included a student representative and developed surveys to identify student interests.

“The Wellness Week committee can be intense, as we have eight weeks to plan and produce this entire event,” Hogans noted. “Over the years, the process has become more streamlined, but it is still an intense process of scheduling, contracts, room reservations, marketing and food orders.”

This year’s Wellness Week Committee included Brittney Banaei, Nikki Ferry, Kathleen Hains, Chris Herr, Azaria Hogans, Bryan Lucchesi and Karen Sabo.

Positive feedback worth the effort

Hogans said hearing positive feedback from students remains one of the most rewarding aspects of Wellness Week.

“Those who attend our sessions have raving feedback about their time in their sessions,” she said. “Reading feedback that says that they got tools to help better manage mental health, or that their day was completely turned around, makes it worth it every time.”