New Year’s resolutions are hard, and it’s difficult to have the motivation to exercise in the typical bleak winter weather. This is why the new club Reconnections decided to host an event a little different from normal.
Reconnections, named for its theme of reconnecting with oneself, is a mental health and wellness club based on movement and exercise that was created in November. The founder, Kailynn Pritchett, felt Reconnections could be valuable to students due to her own experiences.
“I did really struggle with my mental health for a semester, and being able to implement some sort of movement or some sort of relaxing subject like coloring, writing — that’s what helped me get through it,” Pritchett, a freshman computer science and information systems major, said.
One thing Pritchett brought to the club that has aided her mental health is a bingo card activity, which was the focus of the club’s Jan. 31 meeting. To make one, achievable goals that can be completed within a year are put in each square in hopes of eventually getting a bingo, making it another version of New Year’s resolutions. This inspired some students to try and help themselves and their loved ones.
“I want others to find what their goals for the new year are and work at them,” Pritchett said. “What better way to do that than bingo?”
To help keep the created goals in mind, attendees were encouraged to make collages known as vision boards, themed after their cards.
“[If you’re] setting a vision board on your phone, on your iPad your laptop, you’re going to see it every day, and you’re going to want to do something that has to do with it,” Pritchett said.
For Panashe Tsimba, one of the attendees, the vision board was the most interesting part of the event.
“The vision board activity was fun and eye-opening,” Tsimba, a post-graduate industrial engineering major, said. “I’ll finish mine sometime.”
Overall, the event marked a strong start to the semester for Reconnections.
“We had a few new faces, and it was lovely to see. In comparison, I think it was our biggest turnout yet; almost every seat in that room was filled,” Pritchett said.
Reconnections is not satisfied with just helping Bradley students with their mental health, though. Members like Moira Wachob, the club’s social media manager and treasurer, hope to spread positivity as far as they can.
“We are currently planning a mental health fundraiser and brunch on Feb. 15 to raise funds for mental health awareness, which I’m excited for because it is for a good cause and will hopefully bring more attention to our club,” Moira Wachob, a freshman English secondary education major, said.
More information about Reconnections can be found on its website or by joining its GroupMe. Reconnections will be hosting a sip and study from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday in BECC 3001.
