On Oct. 18, The Wellness Center hosted its annual fresh check day at the Student Center Eynon Ballroom. 

The room was filled with tables from various on and off-campus mental health organizations and other services. Before entering the ballroom, students are given a card and every table visited can stamp it. Getting ten stamps qualifies you for a prize draw. The tables contained information, activities, gifts, candies, stickers, pins, affirmations, and business cards. The event offered students, faculty, and staff a place to let go of stress, burdens of study, and to focus on mental health.

Brittany Auletta, the assistant director at the Wellness Center for Programming and Communication for Well-being, talks about the relation of Fresh Check Day to the Jordan Porco Foundation.

“Fresh check day is our partnership with the Jordan Porco Foundation,” said Auletta. “It’s a non-profit and Jordan Porco was a student not at Rowan University who had died by suicide. So we partnered with their organization every year to bring all of our mental health services and resources to our students here at Rowan.”

There were many organizations like Nation’s First Center of Excellence for Tourette Syndrome, The Artemis Center for Guidance,  Rowan Office of Student Equity and Compliance, Active Minds, Services Empowering Rights of Victims (SERV), The SHOP, Rowan Medicine Medical Acupuncture Services, and so much more.

Shane Karolyi is a coordinator within the Department of Residential Learning and University Housing. Croley talks about why he’s at the event and emphasizes that the department is always here to support students. 

“We are here to connect with students, primarily those that are living on campus,” said Karolyi. “As that’s typically the students that we support the program with but also, students that live on campus can have commuters, other friends come out to programs as well. And we know that a lot of students might later make the decision to live on campus.”

If interested, you can contact the Department of Residential Learning and University Housing via their office on the first floor of Savitz Hall, at their email at housingquestions@rowan.edu, or at their phone number 856-256-4266.

Revaé Burton, a clinician at the Wellness Center that provides counseling and psychological services, gives advice to students regarding mental health and how to connect to the resources at the fresh check day if you missed the event.

“My biggest advice is to ask for help, come by the Wellness center even if you didn’t get a chance to come to fresh check day and see any of our community partners,” said Burton. “The Wellness Center can hook you up with people and make those connections to resources, but the first step is to ask for help.” 

Similarly, Auletta advises students to put mental health first and to take advantage of the resources available at the Wellness Center.

“My advice to our students on Rowan campus is just put your mental health first,” said Auletta. “Make your mental health a priority. It’s first and foremost, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. So the Wellness Center, we don’t carry a wait lists as well so we always encourage our students to walk in. They can call to schedule an appointment. We also have our Let’s Talk sessions, so a student who’s never talked to a counselor before has the ability to just drop in and talk to one of our therapists. And the best part is we don’t bill first services and it’s all confidential.”

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