Wellness Without Borders: Why It’s Everyone’s Job

In this episode of The Adjunct Files, we sit down with Nikki Kirdahy, Director of Prevention and Wellness at FGCU, to explore what holistic wellness really means for students—and for faculty. Nikki breaks down the eight dimensions of wellness, shares practical ways instructors can support student well-being, and reminds us why modeling healthy habits matters. From tackling stress and loneliness to finding balance in our own lives, this conversation is packed with insights and actionable tips for creating a healthier campus community.

Recreation and Wellness:
https://www.fgcu.edu/university-recreation-and-wellness/

Wellness Coaching: 
https://www.fgcu.edu/university-recreation-and-wellness/wellness/wellness-coaching

Theme music composed, performed and produced by James Husni.

Adjunct Nation is a collaborative podcast under the auspices of The Lucas Center for Faculty Development at FGCU. You can learn more by clicking on this link:

https://www.fgcu.edu/lucascenter/

Transcript

Welcome to the Adjunct Files.

We're a growing, diverse community who face challenging work in an ever-changing, higher

education landscape.

Your co-hosts for this podcast are with you in this.

I'm John Roth.

Adjuncts since 2015 and now a coordinator for Adjunct Faculty at Florida Gulf Coast University.

I'm Maggie Han, Adjuncts since 2022 and currently work in the Office of First-Year Seminars.

Together we hope to have conversations to empower, support, and elevate Adjunct faculty.

This conversation today is one to do just that.

Hello everybody.

Welcome back to the Adjunct Files.

John, how are you?

Good.

I think.

It's Friday.

It's Friday.

Fridays are really sweet in the sense of, yeah, if you've got everything basically done,

then it's just kind of.

A sigh of relief.

Yeah.

And having a day off feels so good right now.

Yeah.

So how are you doing?

Pretty good.

I've got caught up on grading.

I know.

You had like 300 things to grade.

Yes.

I feel very accomplished right now.

Awesome.

Well, I hope you are feeling well.

Me too.

Because especially since we've got someone from?

Prevention and wellness.

Yeah.

Hi.

Hey, Nikki.

Hello, hello.

Please introduce yourself.

So glad to be here.

Thank you so much for inviting me.

Yes, we're making sure everybody is well today.

My name is Nikki Cardihee.

I am the Director of Prevention and Wellness and that is actually a part of University

recreational wellness.

So we merged back in 2023.

And so, yeah, I'm nestled in with the larger department.

Awesome.

And how long have you been here?

How did you get here?

All that stuff.

Oh, goodness gracious.

Yeah.

I've been here.

I like to say I'm at the 10 plus year mark.

So I actually went to grad school here.

Awesome.

So back in 2009, I was accepted into grad school and I was working as a graduate assistant

with prevention and wellness.

So I've been here the whole time and I started as a professional in 2012 and I've got 13

plus years as a professional and I've been the Director since 2021.

Was this your dream job growing up?

It's so funny.

I don't know if I had a dream job as a kid growing up and it's funny because anybody

that you talk to in higher education typically says they got here by accident.

And I hear that a lot and I feel like I fall into that category a little bit.

So I struggled to find what worked for me when I was in school.

In college, I had, I think I changed my major about five times and I love to tell that story

to students when I'm working with students and let them know like that's what college

is about, right?

It's about exploring and finding what works for you.

And I found psychology and psychology was I was like, yeah, this is, this makes sense

to me.

I've done an exciting and I wanted to learn more and know more.

And then that led to me going to grad school here at FGCU, getting my masters in counseling.

And yeah, and it was when I was here and like I said, I wanted to work as a graduate assistant.

I kind of fell into prevention and wellness and I was like, well, yeah, wellness, that's

kind of what I'm doing with counseling and psychology.

And yeah, I've been here ever since and I think it kind of goes hand in hand.

Yeah, Nikki, are you from Florida then originally?

I am.

Yep.

Born and raised.

Right here in Cape Coral.

I did not go very far.

And both of my sisters went out of state for college and I was like, nah, I'm good.

I like Florida.

Yeah.

I like, I like the warm weather and I like staying here.

And so yeah, I love that.

I too am same situation.

Yeah, I know stuck around.

And I will say I love to travel.

I absolutely love to travel.

I go out and about.

But yeah, Florida is my home base.

And so I'm very fortunate that I was able to get a job here at FGCU.

I know that's not common for a lot of people.

So I'm grateful every day that I was able to become a professional here after grad school.

Yeah, absolutely.

For those who may not be familiar, what does university recreation and wellness encompass?

And then you mentioned a merger in 2023.

Yes.

So how does prevention and wellness now fit into that larger mission?

Yeah.

So university recreation and wellness, it's so funny.

Because like I said, my background is mostly prevention and wellness and that's my home

and what I've known.

And so in 2021, when they merged, I learned a lot about the world of recreation and all

the wonderful things that are there.

And so what I can tell you with recreation is, you know, again, it's what everyone thinks

of is it's the gym, right?

Everyone knows, oh, it's the gym.

It's where I go to work out.

The lore with that and the fun thing about that is that we opened in February of 2020

and then promptly shut down in March of 2020.

It was such a grand opening.

It was a grand opening for a month.

So but yes, I mean, in this time, I've learned a lot about the world of recreation.

And so what I've found is that we touch so many places on campus.

We have multiple facilities.

So we oversee the recreation fields, the South Village pool and the waterfront.

So we oversee water on this campus, as well as the aquatic center.

So a lot of people don't realize that that also falls within our area.

So obviously anything, recreation related, fitness programs, personal training, the facilities.

And we also oversee the sport clubs and intramurals.

So yeah, it's far reaching of what we do.

And the merger was, you know, this wonderful thing that happened because there's been a

movement across the nation, across other colleges and universities, not just within Florida,

but there's been a movement towards this idea of wellness and what does wellness mean

and where is it housed, right?

Whose responsibility is it?

And so you'll see that there's been this shift across our nation that more of these

departments are, you know, again, merging together.

And so whether it's counseling and psychological services, student health services, recreation,

all of those are kind of taking that ownership of wellness.

And so for us, that's what we felt was going to be the best combination is, you know,

kind of housing us within recreation.

One stop shop for holistic wellness.

Yeah.

Speaking of wellness, boy, have I noticed, I think most adjunct faculty or full-time

faculty or anyone in a university setting is noticing that students are really struggling

with overall wellness issues.

So how do you support student wellness and well-being and what impact do you see the

connection between student-like overall wellness, well-being and academic success?

I mean, let's just throw the softball across the place.

That is such a great question.

And I love it.

So what a lot of people don't realize is that we educate on eight dimensions of wellness.

So, you know, wellness is holistic.

Students are holistic.

There are many, many pieces of us as individuals.

And so typically when I ask somebody to think about the word wellness or even the word health,

automatically your brain goes to physical wellness, taking care of your body, exercising, eating

well, getting enough sleep, and, you know, making sure that you don't get sick and also

your mental health, right?

So a lot of times we think about that.

But not the social.

Right.

There's so many different dimensions.

And so...

What are we missing?

So we have so obviously physical and emotional.

So emotional is, you know, a lot of times is also known as that mental health.

There is social wellness.

Students are dealing with loneliness.

There's a huge epidemic of loneliness right now.

So social wellness.

No, I know.

I know.

I know.

Nicky's like, yeah, what rock have you been talking about?

Vivak Murthy.

Vivak Murthy put out.

But, uh, Surgeon General of the United States about two years ago put out this huge study

of loneliness epidemic in the United States, right?

And the younger generations are probably higher on that.

And then there are aging people as well.

There's different pockets, but it's pretty bad.

Well, and, you know, I know we're going to be hearing this for many, many years down the

line, but COVID did not help.

It did not help, but it didn't start there.

It did not start there.

No.

And so, do you think that it exacerbated it?

Some of the students that we're seeing now were in the COVID shutdown during their form

at Hiviers, right?

And so it did have an impact and it's going to have a lasting impact.

And I know that.

But yeah, and it's, again, it's beyond COVID.

It's how we're utilizing technology, social media.

We're more connected than ever and also more disconnected than ever.

Exactly.

And it's huge.

I call it anti social media.

Because I think that's what it usually is.

So there's the emotional, the social.

What else?

Spiritual wellness is one of the ones that is.

I thought she was going to mention that.

Mr. Pastor.

Yes, it is.

I will say from our research and our data, it is the one that students struggle with

the most.

That is the one that most people say that they have.

They feel the least amount of wellness in.

Is there spiritual wellness?

And we do educate for a lot of people that might not understand or have a stigma.

That spiritual wellness does not necessarily mean religious wellness and religion.

Right.

That is huge.

And that is a part of it.

But that's not necessarily what it means.

Right.

To be spiritually well.

So we, we educate on that.

Occupational and financial.

Those are two separate ones.

A lot of times people will put those together and kind of combine them.

But to me, the way we try to help students understand is that occupational is feeling

purpose, feeling like you have fulfilled a career that you're giving back, that you're

doing meaningful work and knowing how to advance in life and what that means.

And so we work, you know, fairly, very closely with career development services to help

students with their occupational wellness and financial wellness.

You know, again, those are tied together.

Your career, your job, that's how you make money and have financial wellness.

But financial wellness goes into so many other factors as well as knowing what a budget

is, knowing what credit is, knowing how to live and feel fulfilled with the money that

you have.

Yeah.

You know, so there's, there's a lot of factors.

With that, the psychology of money is crazy.

Yeah.

Um, environmental wellness.

So again, typically what you think about, you think environment, right?

Got to protect the environment.

You've got recycling, you know, reduce, reuse, recycle, that whole thing.

But we also educate and teach that your environmental wellness goes beyond that.

And it's, it's your comfortability with your surroundings, right?

It's, are you feeling safe in your environment?

And I mean, it could be as something as simple as like we educate with

students is, can you study in your room?

Right.

Can you study in the space that you're in?

Is it cluttered?

Are you feeling like you can focus?

It could be something as small as your small environment, not necessarily impacting

mother nature.

But I think students need to get outside and get into nature as well.

And, um, I just find that therapeutic myself is walking around campus and getting out

for my little shoe box in an office at times.

Well, when you talk to students, so I just did the eight dimensions of wellness in

my class, um, last week, and when we, when we were talking about, um, the environment,

90% of my class, the campus is what made them fall in love.

Like the physical space of the campus is what like they're like, so green.

It's so calm, the water.

And they're like, that's really what sold me.

Like that impact that it has on your feelings.

Get outside.

Yes.

In front of a screen.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

And I love John, thank you for bringing this up to you because one of the points

that I want to make is when you think about environmental wellness, like you just said,

get outside, right?

Go enjoy the weather, enjoy the beauty, touch grass.

That is what a lot of people connect with spiritual wellness.

Yeah.

Right.

And breathe.

So yeah, feeling a connection with, you know, your own creature, leanness.

Yes.

With mother nature and the universe and feeling just an absolute connection.

And so that's kind of the point is what we explain.

And when I educate about the dimensions that they are interconnected, right?

They're all connected with each other.

One thing impacts another.

Again, financial wellness, that's going to impact your social wellness, whether or

not you feel like you have the means to go out and do things.

If your friends are always going out and spending money and you don't have the

means to do that, maybe that does impact your social wellness, uh, your physical

wellness, right?

How, if you're feeling healthy or not, is going to impact all of these other areas.

And, and I don't want to neglect the last one because we have talked about all of them.

But the one that I saved for last is back to your original question of how this

impacts our academics and the last dimension wellness is intellectual wellness.

And so intellectual wellness, again, we talk about the fact that it is related

to them being students, right?

Curious.

Yes.

Engaged lifelong learning.

Yes.

Not just trying to get a grade, not just doing things at the last minute.

Right.

It's new ideas.

It's new perspectives, learning about different thought processes, um,

different cultures, open minded, you know, civil discourse, right?

Learning.

I mean, this could be as simple as like a roommate issue and learning from your

roommate and what they like and what you like and coming to a compromise.

That's intellectual wellness.

So, but yeah, it is, it is the number one reason why students are in college.

We're in a set setting of higher learning.

So it is actual high standards.

What's going on?

Higher learning, right?

Yeah.

So it's, it is again, that's all connected.

And that goes back to my other point is struggling in any one of these areas

is going to impact another run, right?

So you're struggling emotionally with your mental health or stress levels or anxiety.

That is going to impact your intellectual wellness, right?

That might impact whether or not you go to class and your grades and everything

else.

So yeah, it's, it's all tied together.

And really that point that I just want to bring home, especially for, um, any

instructors and faculty and staff on this campus is that we need to remember

that the student is a whole person, right?

Right.

They are a whole person and just because they might be struggling in your class

in particular, it might not be you, right?

You know, you might get that sense of, Oh, what am I doing wrong?

As an instructor, there are so many things going on in their life.

And yeah, it could be as simple as just checking in with them.

Yeah.

One thing that I kind of go an off script a little.

Yeah, please.

And that is, uh, you know, the old saying physician healed by self or how I've

noticed health care providers often are the worst at taking care of themselves.

Who heals the healer?

Yeah.

So we've got, you know, 430 or more adjunct faculty that are active here on campus.

We have 560 or so, uh, in unit faculty.

We've got a thousand plus staff members, right?

We've got a couple thousand people on this campus who are hopefully

modeling to the students wellness, but I don't know.

We always are.

And I'm wondering how that, um, you know, cause I think one of the, uh, keys to good

leadership is that you model the way that you do what you say you will do.

And you also model what you want the students to be doing.

And I had, I just get the feeling like we think we can just, oh, they need to

be doing this, but I'm going to have my, my, my, say, not his idea.

Yeah.

My lifestyles kind of suck.

I'm here too, too many hours and I'm overworking, under resting or rec

creating or anything.

That's not what university rec and wellness focuses on, but doesn't that

impact, um, how students look and see their instructors and everybody else.

And it's like, well, your life doesn't look balanced.

Or you know, I absolutely get it.

And I think another added layers imposter syndrome.

Oh yeah.

Let's just throw that in there.

I was going to say what you're talking about.

Adjuncts feel like they are imposters.

Yeah.

Right.

Well, and I know, uh, doctors, stars and Claire just did a, um, wonderful

presentation on imposter syndrome.

And, but yeah, I, I think that even ties into it a little bit.

What you're saying is, you know, who am I to preach to students and share these

things and help them with their wellness if I'm struggling and I'm not

also doing well, right?

And so yeah, I, it is a, it is a deeper issue.

And yes, I hope that we can practice what we preach and get there.

And I think it's baby steps.

Yeah.

And Nikki, how, how do you handle all this?

I mean, your job could be way too much.

Right.

And I have a feeling Maggie's like, I hear her jobs description, just what's

supposed to be in it, let alone what all it.

I'm going like, Oh my gosh.

It's like invisible bullet points.

Like three jobs in one.

So how do you practice what you preach?

Yeah.

Practice that I preach.

It's so funny because I've had a lot of people ask me that and I get challenged

on that a lot too.

Right.

Like people are like, what are you doing that?

Like, yes.

Yes.

I am.

And it's, and I will say this is something that I've had to work at and work

towards.

This is not something that I just, you know, it's like, Oh, well, come the

director of prevention wellness now.

So now I magically well all the time.

It does not work like that.

Right.

Wellness is something that you have to work towards and work on every single day.

It is a lifestyle.

It is a lifestyle.

And so, and you know, I don't want to get too into the weeds on the differences

between the terms, the terminology, but there is a difference between the words

wellness and well-being.

And so kind of the, the cliff notes version is wellness.

Think about wellness is the path, right?

The path that you take every single day, some days are going to be better than others.

Some days are going to be more of a struggle.

Some days you're going to be feeling great and thinking you're doing really awesome.

Well-being is the destination.

Well-being is where we're trying to go.

That's where we're trying to get to.

And, but yeah, that wellness, it is a daily effort.

It is something that you have to work on.

Ah, you have to make a conscious effort every single day.

And I do.

Right.

And again, there's going to be some days where I am struggling.

And there is too much and there's too many things happening and being thrown at me

and thrown on my plate and I, and I just take a deep breath and I, you know,

wake up the next day and have a better day the next day, but.

Maybe a good metaphor is the difference between climate and weather, where weather is the

every, like today could be a stormy day.

Um, tomorrow could be sunny and nice and mild, but the overall climate is healthy.

Gee, cause some days I don't get my steps in, but most of the time I do.

And it's kind of overall the whole week or the whole month.

If you look at it, there's all those connection points.

I've got the social activities.

I've got the intellectual stimulus.

I've got the spiritual.

I've got the financial, you know, but it's not like everything, every day, all eight.

I'm hitting, hitting all eight cylinders today.

That's not too typical.

Right.

Well, and again, it's, you know, also giving yourself grace and not beating yourself up.

So that's a spiritual practice by the way.

Yeah.

It's, it's huge.

That's just saying.

This is what we do, right?

So, you know, okay, yeah, you didn't get your steps in.

So you walked, you know, five days this week and on the sixth day, you're like,

you know, I didn't get my steps in.

Okay.

Don't beat yourself up, right?

And that's okay.

And I think that happens a lot is that we miss one day or one thing and we, you know,

just, oh, well, all right, that's done.

I tried that and it's over.

It's like, no, be proud of what you've done.

Celebrate your successes.

Be.

Persistent.

It takes time to build up the habit and build up the routine and get used to it.

And so, but you have to start somewhere.

And it's going to be hard.

Always.

It's still hard for me.

Well, I still struggle.

It's like exercising your muscles.

Absolutely.

Like when you first started working out, you're so sore.

But then after like a week, you're like, okay,

I can go back and do some things.

And I know I'm going to continue building that strength.

It's just I have to get through the first week of not being able to walk.

Yep.

And then you got to lift my arms up.

I mean, you know what I mean?

And increase that weight a little bit and get a little more in there.

So yeah, absolutely.

But I think that's, that's what I would say, you know, is I could do a whole

other conversation about self care and what you should do and how it's so personal

and individual to each person.

You know, I always joke with our, my self care presentation is we want a quick fix,

right? You want to, there's no magic wand.

I can't just look and say, Hey, Maggie, if you do this every single day,

your life is going to be so much better.

It's not, it doesn't work like that, right?

There's so many factors that impact it and what I would say is unless it's eat potato

chips, I will prioritize that.

I will say it's just a matter of finding what works for you and what brings you joy

and peace.

And, but I think that's part of the problem is that some people don't even know what

that is.

No, like some people don't even know where to start with.

That and it's like, so I guess if adjuncts notice, or really anybody here

notice that students are struggling and they are overwhelmed and don't know where to start,

where can we refer them to?

Do you all have a program or something that can help support the students?

Find a spot.

That is a great question.

And I think it depends on what they're seeing and what they're dealing with, right?

So, I mean, my gut reaction first and foremost is if you ever have a student and you're like,

I need to help them.

I need to support them.

And I don't know what to do.

Student care services always.

Always student care services is a great place to start and great place to go.

But don't just be throwing in all these reports and sending all these students to

student care services.

That's great.

But what I want to remind you and one of my big takeaways that I want to, you know,

have everyone realize with this podcast is wellness is everyone's job.

Right.

We all have a role.

And we all have a place and especially instructors, especially adjunct instructors,

right.

If you notice or if a student comes to you, that is, that's amazing, right?

They trust you enough.

You are somebody that they see on a regular basis, a weekly basis.

They trust you enough and feel comfortable enough to approach you and say,

hey, I might be struggling with this, that or the other thing.

I think we can get overwhelmed and scared.

And again, go back to that imposter syndrome of,

I don't know what to do, right?

I'm not the person.

I got it.

Yes, absolutely.

You are, you are resource and a referral, but knowing that they came to you,

yeah, shouldn't, you know, don't let that be a scary thing, right?

It's not a scary thing.

It's a moment that you can sit back and be like, wow, okay, there's like the student

trusts me with this.

And then I think again, based on that, you can offer them the right resources.

So if it is something a little more severe outside your wheelhouse,

something you're a little nervous about, student care services is a great option.

But even if they're looking just to learn more about themselves.

Yes.

And that's why again, one of the things that I, you know, that I came here to talk about in

pro is our wellness coaching, right?

So again, if a student comes and says, hey, I'm just working on this or I'm struggling with this,

you can refer them to prevention and wellness for wellness coaching.

It is a completely free service.

It is with another student and, you know, the student is trained.

So they're trained to help and it's motivational interviewing, right?

So they sit down and have motivational interviewing.

They support the student.

They listen to them, listen to their concerns and they can relate and empathize as another

student as an individual who's gone through some of the same struggles and help them so

that whether it's, you know, talking them through the situation, getting them connected with resources,

it is basically a brainstorming session where they say, okay, let's come up with an action plan.

What are we going to do for this?

And it is one of our most underutilized services.

Students don't necessarily take that initiative to do that.

And so, because again, it's going to be a little bit scary and trying to step out and do those

things, but it can be in person.

It can be virtual.

We do offer it virtually.

So again, for students that are a little intimidated, we have that.

And so again, if somebody comes with a problem or a concern and you're like, you know what?

Well, this coaching sounds like a really great option.

Yeah.

Send them my way, right?

That's what we're here for.

We can absolutely support them with that.

What are some of the resources that like an adjunct faculty member, it can be almost any class here.

We teach about 20% of them.

I know it's pretty high.

And a lot of them are gateway courses, I think.

What are some ways that we can incorporate or some resources or what do you have that

adjuncts might want to incorporate in their course?

I would say something small and simple.

Again, that regardless of the class, it's just a simple little conversation that you can squeeze in,

have an ice break or a warm up activity or something like that is to help educate about

the eight dimensions of wellness.

And so, that's another misconception as I try to explain to people, like,

university recreational wellness, we don't own the eight dimensions of wellness.

That is not something that I just pulled out of thin air, other universities and other

institutions practice.

And again, depending on where you're at, some have six dimensions, some have up to nine dimensions.

And so, we just went based on what is the most highly researched and what we felt fit best with

our office.

So, that is something very simple that I think adjuncts can incorporate and just start having

those small conversations, people first, you know, and how many kids-

They're like a canvas drop-in module or anything like that.

No, but that is something I can look into and get some information.

I will say that Maggie and I have been working together to get some additional materials for

specifically the university transition students and SLS instructors for supplemental instruction,

I guess would be the best way to say it.

Start them off well.

Yeah.

And so, you know, that is definitely something that I have that's readily available.

But again, there's so many things that we can do and you don't have to do it by yourself.

You know, our department offers wellness workshops.

So, if that's something that you're like, yeah, Nikki, that sounds great.

I want to talk about the A-Dementia the wellness, but I don't want to do it.

I'll do it for you, right?

Okay.

Put in a request.

We do have a request link on our website that you can put in and we can come during one of

your classes and talk about the A-Dementia the wellness or we could talk about a specific topic,

right?

So, we've talked about alcohol and we've talked about, you know, stress.

We've got mental health presentation.

So, we can...

Cool.

We can adjust and if there's not something on our list that you would like,

all you have to do is reach out and ask and we can adjust, you know, if we need to and see

if we can meet your needs.

Yes.

Most adjuncts here are juggling many things.

This is not a full-time...well, you can't live off of what adjunct faculty make.

So, it's kind of a supplement.

So, there are a lot of staff members that also teach.

Yes.

And then there are full-time professionals, part-time professionals, retirees.

There's a few people who are freelancing it, trying to cobble together at three or four

institutions enough to make a go.

And I'd say the largest here is the professional who's working full-time outside of FGC and then

teaches in addition.

Whoa.

So, we're probably over...overbooked ourselves.

What are things that maybe adjunct faculty can tap into here in this community that are

resources that would help them with their own well-being?

Yeah, I've got an answer to that and this is great.

I love that.

So, honestly, one of the services that we have that we heavily promote to students,

but it is also free for faculty and staff, is an initiative called Exercise is Medicine on

Campus.

It was in the installment.

It was in our installment.

Our wellness is so good.

Always.

Oh, good for you.

Thank you.

I read a number of them.

I do notice they're updated on a monthly basis.

They are, everyone.

Exactly.

They work like clockwork.

Some buddies.

They're like fairies.

They like to rip through campus and switch them overnight.

How do they get into all the stalls?

I don't know.

But they do.

We are magic.

We are magic.

We're like, you know, the little...

Like you said, Maggie, the little fairies that come through in the middle of the night

and we just swap them all out and yeah, we have so many on this campus.

Don't even ask me the number.

I should know this off the top of my head, but we have so many.

Hundreds.

So many on this campus.

But yes, thank you for that because October was Exercise is Medicine month.

And so we were trying to bring awareness and attention.

So if you did happen to see our wellness installments in the bathrooms, our bathroom newsletter,

and yes, it is a pun if you notice that the stall is capitalized.

That is on purpose.

Who started that?

I don't know, but I love it.

I think Dr. Bruner, when he was in Cabs, he brought it up.

But you brought it up?

Okay.

You are a living legend.

Yeah.

It was actually an idea that we brought back from a conference.

So we would attend a peer health education conference.

It has been many, many years.

And so now the Peer Health Education Conference has merged with NASPA strategies.

So it's still a conference that exists today.

It just looks a little bit different.

But yeah, we went to a conference and heard about it at another school and brought it here,

made some tweaks.

And yeah, I think we're 13 years running there.

13 years.

I'm like, I only know life at FGCU with them.

Yeah.

And I've been working with the University Archives as well.

So they archive all of our past ones.

So you can go on there and see how something is happening.

You need to start creating artwork out of life.

Our initial, yeah.

So is that student run?

Do the students develop that?

It is.

So such a cool opportunity.

Yeah.

Our peer health educators, we let them choose the topic.

And they are the ones that research.

So they will research, they write.

We have a system in our office so that obviously we review it.

But you know,

I'm wondering if they come up with topics that were like,

whoa, no, that's a little little outside of what we want.

You know, but hey, we, and like I said, we trust the students to know what they want to know about.

Right.

Right.

But every now and then, so obviously with exercise and medicine month,

that's an issue of in our department.

So that was something that we internally wanted to promote.

But we've also worked with other departments and other organizations on and off campus.

If they have something that they want to promote our topic,

we try to accommodate and we just typically try to match them with a student that's interested

in that topic.

Because again, you know, forcing them to write about a topic that they don't have any interest in,

it shows in the writing.

So we try to get them to pick something that is exciting for them.

But yeah, it is completely student run and led and they're the ones that swap them out every month.

So, great job students.

And army of 20.

I know they're out there.

They're out there.

They're peer educators.

Yes, peer health educators.

Peer health.

We used to call them peer educators for short, but I think people would get confused because

there's a lot of peer mentors.

Yes.

And you know what that means?

And so we added in that word health just to help people understand that we, you know,

focus on health and wellness and health promotion.

So for all the students who are here, everybody here, what's one like message you'd like everybody to know?

I jumped the gun a little bit on this one, but I do just want to reiterate,

wellness is everyone's job.

Okay.

Right.

So yes, I am considered an expert.

You can come reach out to me.

You can ask me for help.

I'm here to help and support, but it's not something to be intimidated by.

It is something that we all have a part in.

Obviously we've got the eight dimensions, right?

We have all these different campus partners, departments, everybody's working towards the same thing.

And yeah, so I would say that wellness is definitely everyone's job.

And what you do and the work that you do is essential and plays a huge part of that.

Specific challenges that you see right now within the student body, general trends.

I'm not talking.

You don't need to name names and dates and places.

Please don't violate it.

So Sally is not.

No, I wouldn't.

You want to know what Maggie said.

I would say that mental health is always number one on the list.

Always, no matter how many surveys we do, no matter what we talk about,

the top three concerns, stress, depression, anxiety, always.

And then as we've already talked about loneliness is an epidemic, right?

It is something that we are dealing with.

And so just how we can continue to remember that these students are out there struggling

every single day.

And so the fact that they make an effort and get up and show up is a big deal, a huge deal,

because the data shows they're going through it.

And so that's what we're here for.

We're here to help them and support them and help them do their best.

And kind of like what we were saying before or two is with that imposter syndrome a little

bit, I know faculty and staff are also, we have our days.

We're also going through it just as much and that's okay.

And take time to celebrate those successes and be proud of when you show up every single day.

Because small wins make a difference.

Maggie, what are you thinking?

How well do you feel?

Right now, scale of one to five, like a four.

Okay, that's pretty good.

It's Friday.

It is Friday.

I'm so excited.

I just think back to my time as a student all the time.

I remember my first day on campus and my first day of class like it was yesterday.

And I think just every time I enter in a classroom, I just put myself back to like

18 year old me and how I felt that first semester and like first year here.

And I also too just share my story and I'm honest with students.

And I think too, like if anybody's worried about connecting with their students,

obviously make sure boundaries, it's appropriate and all that.

But just sharing that you have struggled too and it's okay to struggle.

Not everything is easy.

But it means that you're working hard.

We're getting somewhere.

Things are happening, but it's going to be hard.

Just don't get discouraged and you're human.

Yes, we're all human.

We are all human.

So for right now, we are all human.

I always say it's okay to have a bad day.

It is okay, you know.

But just come back.

Keep your head up.

Yep.

It's okay.

Cool.

Absolutely.

Well, this was delightful.

Thank you so much.

What a spark plug you are.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

I enjoy what I do.

It brings me joy and it brings me happiness.

And so I'm honestly so grateful to be able to share and spread the word.

And I always encourage everybody.

They need anything.

Reach out.

That's what I'm here for, right?

That's it is literally my job.

So please don't ever feel weird if you have questions or just need a little support yourself.

You know, I'm happy to go out and have lunch and we'll chat.

It'll be great.

Where can people find the prevention and wellness office?

We are located in the Cohen Student Union.

So we're actually in the annex, the little building on the side.

I know there's a lot of construction right now, but we are still there.

We are still open.

So yes, we are in 161.

So if you find us over there, I basically say if you can find where Einstein's is and all that,

we're just another door down.

So just go a little bit farther and you'll find us.

Perfect.

Well, thank you so much, Nikki.

It's been great.

We'll make sure to link all the resources and links to the wellness coaching.

If anybody wants to look at your service and what you offer as well.

I love that.

Thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you again for inviting me out.

Absolutely.

Well, bye-bye y'all.

We'll talk to you next time.

Bye, y'all.

Theme music composed, performed and produced by James Husney.

Theme music produced, performed and produced by James Husney.