On Friday, March 20, Professor Steven Uhlenbrock of Department of Psychology at West Chester University and his class on positive psychology hosted an International Day of Happiness event.
The event was originally scheduled to be in the quad, but due to poor weather, was moved to Sykes Student Union.
International Day of Happiness also included other organizations on campus, which included Sister to Sister, Psi Chi and the Psychology Club.
The event had tables set up all around Sykes Ballroom A that offered information and interactive activities for students on increasing personal happiness and to simply promote happy and healthy thoughts, as well as life experiences.
The positive psychology class had students write down something they loved and disliked about themselves on a note card. Then they were asked to crumble up the note card, which had something they disliked about themselves and throw it into a basketball net. Throwing the note card in the net exemplified them throwing away an insecurity a student had. The class then put everyone’s notes they loved about themselves on a poster board.
Junior communication science and disorders student Caitlin Morris, who is apart of the positive psychology class, said, “It was sweet to see how happy everyone got when they threw away their insecurity and watched them walk away with a smile on their face. Overall, the event went really well, and it is something I want to do again next year.”
Sister to Sister hosted an activity where they had two mirrors and asked participants to look into the mirror and then take a marker and write on it something they loved about themselves, whether it was physical or internal. After completing the activity, Sister-to-Sister mentors then gave participants one of their “I am enough” compact mirrors.
Vice President of Sister to Sister Jessica Sylvester reflected on how she thought participants felt about the event.
“International Day of Happiness had a very positive effect on not only those who participated in the interactive activities, but also the individuals of the organizations that facilitated them. You could feel the positively and happiness in the room,” said Sylvester.
This was the first year Sister to Sister was asked to participate in International Day of Happiness at West Chester.
Sylvester explained how honored their organization felt about being apart of this event.
“When initially being asked to participate in International Day of Happiness, we couldn’t be more thrilled,” said Sylvester. “We love to interact with students and faculty to support an amazing cause while making students feel good about themselves. Along with the other events we do all throughout the year, this is defiantly an event we enjoyed being apart of and would want to participate in again in the future.”
Sister-to-Sister is done with events for the remainder of the semester, but they are still actively meeting every Tuesday and selling purple puravida bracelets for $5 to raise eating disorder awareness and to promote body positivity. If a student would like more information on how to purchase one, they can check out the Sister to Sister website, Facebook, or email: s2s.wcu@gmail.com.
Devin Gerber is a fourth-year student majoring in communcation studies with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at DG781831@wcupa.edu.