As spring break approaches, so do midterms. This is an overwhelming time for many students, but UW’s Wellness Center is here to help individuals deal with their stress.
Klancy Poor is the Mental Health Awareness Training Program Coordinator for the Wellness Center, which is a free amenity for students to use at any time they need it.
“We do a lot of stuff around physical nutrition, mental health, substance use. We do things like sleep and meditation, mindfulness and just kind of general student wellbeing,” said Poor.
The Wellness Center was created around 2016 according to Poor, and believes it’s been a great and unique addition to campus.
“One thing that’s really cool about the University of Wyoming Wellness Center is that we’re one of the few wellness centers in the country that is integrated into our campus rec department,” said Poor.
“A lot of other wellness centers are kind of like an obscure location on campus or they’re not part of your gym or student health or something like that.”
The Wellness Center sees hundreds of students a week according to Poor, and they offer awareness programs and workshops specifically aimed at problems college students may face, such as Financial Wellness Week and Substance Awareness week. A sleep workshop is a recent addition to services that Poor feels will be highly beneficial.
“In a recent study that we did, we found that sleep is one of the number one concerns among college students and most people,” said Poor.
The Wellness Center has a qualified staff of full time members and part time students that consist of social work, kinesiology and graphic design interns. Each role plays a major part in the success of the organization and works hard to best serve individuals as well as contribute to the UW culture as a whole.
“It’s definitely a big job. There are a lot of things to do. But ultimately, at the end of the day, I get to work with students from all over campus, all over the country, and kind of like, help raise awareness of mental health and substance use and I think that that’s a really important thing these days, and especially in Wyoming, so it makes me feel really good,” said Poor.
Poor says that the Wellness Center staff wants students to know there is never any shame in going to get mental and emotional support. They want the UW community to view the organization as friends and people that are always available to help.
“I think a lot of times there is that stigma behind going in asking for help And while we’re not like counselors or anything like that, we’re still kind of a direct link,” said Poor. “If someone is having issues or needs help with something, we can get them the support they need.”
“But beyond that, we’re peers, we’re friends, like we’re here to just have a conversation with you if you need it.”
