Conestoga students had a chance to explore the new wellness space, see some Lego artwork and get a free meal at the student wellness open house on Tuesday as part of health and wellness week.
The purpose of the open house was for students to see all the things that the space has to offer, such as the new recharge rooms. Students who attended were able to enjoy a free slice of pizza.
Students were also able to submit their ideas for a new name for the space. The top three names will be selected and voted on in the coming weeks.
Student wellness project manager Heather Callum said it was important to promote the new resource.
“We want to get the word out about the new space being here, make sure students know how to find it and that there are lots of people who can tell each other about the space,” she said. “We’ve got a great resource here and we know that not everyone knows about it who may want to use it.”
Conestoga College student Cam Schaefer had heard about the space but the open house gave him a chance to experience it for the first time.
“It’s good to have place [like this] in a school, especially a college and especially around exam time,” he said. “Sometimes you just need to go to place where you can be away from it all.”
Graceful Bricks had lots of Lego artwork set up for students to see, as well as a bin of pieces with which students could build their own things.
Grace Stemp-Morlock, who created Graceful Bricks, uses Lego to help reduce stigma, foster open discussion and support other individuals at risk for suicide.
“I have struggled a lot with my own personal mental health,” she said. “I tried a whole bunch of different coping mechanisms and I found Lego was the one that I kept coming back to.”
Graceful Bricks regularly sends small packages of Lego bricks to individuals who are suffering to offer them support.
Stemp-Morlock created an entire series of mental health themed structures which can be seen on her Instagram page @gracefulbricks.
The new student wellness space is located in room 1A107 on the Doon campus.
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