UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | March 29, 2024

Health & Counseling Center hosting third annual Wellness Fair

Graphic by Jade Cash.

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College is a tough time to fit in mental health while juggling school, work, a social life and other personal responsibilities; however, the Dixie State University Health and Counseling Center is bringing an opportunity straight to students on campus.

DSU Health and Counseling Center will be hosting its third annual Wellness Fair on Oct. 2 from 9:30 a.m – 2 p.m outside the Kenneth N. Gardner Student Center.

The Health and Counseling Center is using this year’s event as a platform to announce it’s name change from Health and Counseling center to Booth Wellness Center, named after the center’s doctor, Dr. Craig L. Booth, said Jamy Dahle, mental health counselor and outreach coordinator.

Dahle said they are revealing the new change with free T-shirts, which have a campus map on it with a star located where the Health and Counseling Center is, and inscribed on the shirt it says “find your center.”

“Find your center – meaning find [the Health and Counseling Center], but also find your wellness,” Dahle said.

Dahle said there has been an increase in student engagement every year. Based on data collected from past years on the number of raffle tickets and shirts given out, she expects roughly 3,000 students to participate this year.

The Wellness Fair began in 2017 as a way to make students more aware of the Health and Counseling Center and what services it offers, Dahle said. It’s an opportunity to provide students with information about various health resources around town.

The goal of the Wellness Fair is to connect students, faculty and staff to wellness centers located on campus and around the community, Dahle said.

“[The Health and Counseling Center] also want [students] to know that wellness isn’t just the Health and Counseling Center; wellness is your physical health, your mental health, your nutrition [and] your spirituality,” Dahle said. “We wanted to really start connecting students to overall balanced wellness.”

Tasha McNamee, Health and Counseling Center support health specialist, said the Wellness Fair is important because it helps get students connected with departments within the university and community. 

McNamee said her favorite part about the fair is seeing the students engage and participate in the activities, especially when she sees how grateful the students are with the resources they were able to find.

Marcus Lindsey, a junior psychology major from Las Vegas, said, “[The fair] inspired me to get out more and reminds me that there are other alternatives and opens my eyes to activities that I can do.”

Lindsey said the fair is important for students because it not only provides students with an activity that gets them out and moving but it also teaches them about more ways to be active.

Dahle said the hope is as they continue to establish events all year that students will see an event coming up and will want to check it out because they know it’s worth their time.

The Wellness Fair will consist of over 30 booths of wellness-oriented vendors that will be handing out their own swag or selling something related to their business, and a raffle ticket provided by the Health and Counseling Center to win one of the 10 prize baskets, which consist of a wireless speakers, a blanket, pillow, basketball, hats, mugs, candy and a stuffed bison.

A few of the vendors are Natural Grocers, who will be selling mini goodie bags for 99 cents each, Zions Canyon Massage, who is providing free hands-on massages, a henna tattoo artist, who will be charging for any tattoo, and DSU hiking club and DSU recreational center who will have their own type of interactive activity.

There will also be three food vendors: a corn dog truck, taco truck and a shaved ice truck.

There will be music and two interactive activities: the walking water balls that people can get inside and walk around in, and the eliminator, which is an inflatable obstacle course.

Ph.D. Psychology Intern Karambir Khalsa will also be presenting a wellness workshop in the Gardner Center from noon – 1 p.m. This presentation will be about how to connect with others without using a screen, Dahle said. There will be cake provided afterward.