During the week of midterms, The Learning Commons and Active Minds collaborated to host events and activities centered around self-fullness and releasing creativity.
On October 3rd and 18th, Active Minds and Skyline College Library continued the Skyline Stories of Self-Fullness sessions with discussions around “Discrimination” and “Wholeness & Wellness.” Providing a safe space for communal tea and discussion, Personal Counselor Perry Chen and Librarian and Outreach and Equity Coordinator Pia Walawalkar shared their experiences with discrimination, inviting our students to engage and understand how to overcome discriminatory actions. During the “Wholeness & Wellness” session, students learned how to accept their personhood. Partially quoting from Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are phrase, Pia stated, “I am a recovering perfectionist and wanna be good-enoughist.”
Active Minds and the Learning Commons teamed up again to host De-Stress Week, which started on October 23rd. Each day offered activities that allowed the Skyline College community to take a break and relax. Stationed in Fireside Dining, Active Minds provided goodie bags, arts and crafts activities, and a Halloween gingerbread house competition. The Learning Center hosted an Origami session, provided board games, and hosted the Jackbox games party. De-Stress Week ended with therapy dogs visiting from the Peninsula Humane Society Volunteer Pet Assisted Therapy (PAT) Program. The three PAT team representatives – Sadie, the black Lab, Cookie the Greyhound, and Rusty, the Goldendoodle – helped over 70 students and a few staff members take a break and de-stress.
To express creativity, the Librarians and Library staff came together to decorate various areas in the Library with Halloween cheer, displayed our spooky tales, and Librarian Mary Torres-Volken hosted the Papel Picado on October 25th to celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead).
Thank you to all members of Active Minds, the Learning Commons (the Learning Center and Library), and the Peninsula Humane Society Volunteer Pet Assisted Therapy (PAT) Program for helping the Skyline College community to seek self-fullness and to de-stress.
Please look out for the next two Skyline Stories of Self-Fullness sessions on November 5th and 21st from 11:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. and the International Voices: The Poetry of Many Tongues poetry event on November 15th from 1:00 p.m. until 2:30 p.m., hosted in the Library. Questions or seeking further information about the upcoming outreach events, please contact Pia Walawalkar at walawalkars@smccd.edu.
