Creighton students gathered in Skutt Student Center to listen to a panel of faculty speakers discuss their “Blueprint to Balance” as a part of the CSU Program Board’s Wellness Workshop event. Accompanied by chicken Caeser salad wraps, coloring sheets and laughter filled discussion, the workshop featured four speakers, with each focusing on a unique aspect of personal wellness. 

First, the students heard from Associate Director for the Student Leadership and Involvement Center Sarah Giacomini, as she detailed the importance of physical wellness in our daily lives.  

She explained how it’s easy for college students to get overwhelmed with the idea of working out due to constraints such as time or money, but that exercise can look different for everyone.  

“Doing intentional exercise doesn’t have to be going to the gym,” she said. “It can be something as simple as walking down the mall and back to touch Billy’s beak.” 

Giacomini also gave a short segment on the integral nature of sleep, and how deeply it impacts our mental and physical wellbeing as college students.  

Next, nutritional wellness and the concept of intuitive eating was covered by campus dietitian Mary Bremer.  

“Intuitive eating is a flexible style of eating in which you largely follow your internal sensations of hunger and satiety,” she said.  

As she detailed the 10 principles of intuitive eating, students learned about the connection that food has with emotions, and how to navigate that connection in a society filled with nutritional buzzwords and dieting trends. 

The third speaker of the evening was Quinn Hejlik, a graduate financial aid counselor who gave a detailed presentation on financial wellness, specifically from the lens of a college student.  

“Skills such as budgeting and building your credit score are essential for financial wellness,” he said. “These are necessary steps to building skills all undergrads will use in the near future.” 

Finally, Director of Campus Ministry Robby Francis wrapped up the night with his segment on spiritual wellness. He covered topics such as interior freedom, discernment and finding God in all things before leading the audience in a brief spiritual examen.  

“A lot of ink has been spilled on defining spirituality,” Francis said. “The way that I would sum it up is that it’s about exploring meaning, purpose and connection.” 

Students left the event with goody bags filled with ideas of how to promote and maintain their own personal wellness, as well as a new understanding of what wellness as a whole means.