World Mental Health began with a 5K at sunrise.
But the run was only the beginning of a day put together by the USU Office of Human Resources and Campus recreation to increase awareness about preventive mental interventions.
After a zoom workshop for managing stress, people expressed themself to the beat of a drum circle.
Deserae Turner talked about her experience of resilience after she was attacked and shot five years ago in Smithfield.
“If you make a bouquet, you use all types of flowers, just how there needs to be all types of people in this world to make it beautiful,” Deserae said.
Jodi Morgan, Associate Director of Human Resources spent a few hours on the quad with dogs ready for adoption.
“We are just supporting both the students and the staff and faculty with events all day long,” Morgan said. “Where people can come out and relieve some stress and just make you know, mental health awareness, an important part of who we are.”
Kobee Rohlf used this opportunity to take a break from studying.
“It's been like a really stressful few weeks,” Rohlf said. “We just decided to come here for about 15-20 minutes and spend some time with the cute animals just to relieve some of that stress.”
Leslie Buxton, HR training and development specialist, said the day is all about awareness and de-stigmatizing conversations around mental health and how to get help.
“We're just trying to tell people that it's, it's okay, to not be mentally stable all the time,” Buxton said. “And that we're here as an Aggie family and take care of each other and help each other through this type of thing.”
The day ended with another opportunity to work off the stress with some high fitness.
