Finals week during the quarter system is a sensitive topic for students at DU as stress begins to consume their minds. Professor Lynn Schofield Clark and her First Year Seminar (FSEM) class, “Can TikTok Change the World?” acknowledged this struggle and decided something needed to be done.
The class decided to take their newfound learnings of TikTok and the influence of social media to start the campaign, “The DU Wellness Challenge” to encourage students to prioritize their wellness during the final weeks of the quarter.
“What’s especially difficult is that end-of-the-quarter stress can feel lonely, even though it is, in fact, an experience that is widely shared,” said Clark.
FSEM student and business major Molly Madden expressed a similar sentiment.
“The wellness challenge helps students around campus feel like they’re not alone and that it is normal to feel overwhelmed during finals week,” Madden said.
Throughout the campaign’s development, the FSEM students have been appreciative of the knowledge they have gained on the importance of mental health.
“Your mental health and wellness are important because you’re important,” said Brynn Roberts, a psychology major who runs the class TikTok account.
The students have been hard at work preparing for the launch of the campaign on Monday, Nov. 13. This kickoff will be from 10:00-11:50 a.m. in the Community Commons in an attempt to get the DU community excited to participate in the campaign.
Professor Clark and her students will be hosting a variety of games and activities for students to create TikToks during this time. Some of the fun includes paper airplane contests, DU trivia, hopscotch and more.
This launch party will be the beginning of the challenge, handing it over to the DU community to join in, creating their own TikToks. The FSEM class has been uploading on their account, @duwellnesschallenge, to show that there are endless ways students can prioritize their mental health and wellness.
As students begin to create and post their own videos to the challenge in the next few weeks under the hashtags #DUWellnessChallenge and #FillingTheWell, they will be entered to win a prize. During Spring Quarter, the class will review all videos and pick winners to receive prizes.
The efforts going into this campaign have been tremendous, from designing and hanging up posters all around campus to going into classrooms to spread the message.
“I am so inspired by the interest among my students to put this campaign together. We’re learning so much about TikTok and thinking about wellness, which is good for everyone involved,” Clark shares.
The FSEM is excited to be able to see this challenge come together during finals week and cannot wait to see what students will create around the idea of prioritizing wellness.
“Join in the fun to help us put the W in Wellness,” FSEM student and computer science major CJ Wanki encouraged.
