Homecoming Service Project Focuses on Health

But last Saturday, about 30 students went against that stereotype by participating in an event promoting health awareness and providing education on living a healthy lifestyle.

The event, titled "Get Right for Life," was the service project of Thurston Cherry, who was crowned homecoming king last November. Each year, the Homecoming king and queen are required to organize a service project that benefits the campus.

Cherry said he selected the idea for the project because physical and mental health concern all students at UNC.

"I wanted to do something that everyone could benefit from," Cherry said. "This is something that affects everyone on campus."

Cherry sent out an e-mail to all students last week urging them to register for the event, which was free.

The program, which was held in Carmichael Ballroom on Saturday afternoon, addressed nutrition, sexual health and stress management. Cherry said the topics were picked to cover a broad spectrum of student health issues.

"The whole point was to introduce these things as general concerns," Cherry said. "If students want to know specifics, we made it clear that you can make an appointment with Student Health (Services)."

Speakers at the event included Tausha Robinson, a coordinator of fitness and nutrition at SHS, and Krista Park, who is part of the Carolina Health Education Counselors for Sexuality.

Park focused much of her presentation on sexually transmitted infections, a topic she said comes up regularly in her line of work but is often overlooked in sexual education.

She said she enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the event because it connected sexual health with more general health concerns. "When talking about staying healthy in general, it's important to also discuss sexual health," Park said.

Robinson, who discussed nutrition and stress management, praised the event for raising student awareness of the services offered to them at SHS.

"A lot of people don't know about the services they have available on campus," she said. "This helps make students feel more comfortable about coming to us for help because they're able to connect a face and a name to the services."

Most of the students in attendance participated in the speaker sessions by raising a number of health-related concerns.

Cherry said he was pleased with the informal nature of these sessions, which allowed for students to have their individual questions addressed.

Cherry said he was disappointed that only half of the students registered for the event were able to attend, but he said he considered the project a success because the students who did participate came away with an improved awareness of a healthy lifestyle.

"There was a wide range of people who did come out, and those students actively participated in the event," he said. "They walked away with information on how to stay healthy."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.