Students Reflect During Wellness Walk

Bridgewater, Va.- Students and faculty joined one another for a wellness walk around campus on Feb. 1 to commemorate last year’s event and relieve their grief through good company.

As a way to step away from the main section of campus, those in the Bridgewater College community set out on a relaxing walk along the North River behind Jopson Field.

“It was nice to get fresh air and walk and talk with friends, especially those that I don’t see as often,” said junior Ashley Casey. “It was nice to take a step back from everything and just talk through our feelings.”

The walk gave students an opportunity to remember their time at the college.

“I actually wasn’t going to go on the walk, but my friends convinced me to go,” said senior Grace Hayes. “The Bridgewater community plays such a huge role in the grieving process, and I think going on this walk and reflecting together really helped a lot.”

Students are becoming busy with the new semester, sports and other activities, so having a scheduled time for this walk allowed them to be there for their friends and others at the college.

“I don’t really get to see my friends too often, just with everything we all have going on, like sports and class,” said junior Emma Anderson. “Since this fit in with the other memorial activities for the day, I finally had a chance to meet up with them, catch up and reflect on this walk.”

Even those who were not here last year still showed up and supported others in any way possible.

“It’s definitely an interesting perspective,” said Wellness Education Director Katie Seymour. “I want to make sure that I’m here as a support system for students, but I don’t want to overstep because I want to acknowledge that there is a community that is formed through traumatic events. I’m definitely on the outside of that, so I don’t want to push anything.”

Many people grieve in different ways, so having many activities available to students allowed them to handle their emotions in a way that would best suit their needs.

“I work with BC United, and, generally, all the students I talked to didn’t know how they were going to feel on the day,” said Seymour. “We wanted to have opportunities for students to go with how they’re feeling and be within the community that’s been built from this. Letting students grieve but not dwell on it and let it bring them down was the main objective.”