By Amber Gomes
Hello again!
So this might not be as exciting as my last blog… but it is 100% practical. I don’t know about you but I can think of four friends that have gotten sick within the last week. And if you are busy as I think you probably are you don’t want to be like them! I’m not a doctor but I’m pretty comfortable recommending water + sleep + hand sanitizer / washing your hands often (take your pick) = a combination to prevent, or at least lessen the chance, of getting sick. Like I said, not a doctor, so really the only other thing I can tell you is that the information below may just come in handy for you.
Some of you may not know, but we have Student Health Services (SHS) on campus! Their website is http://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/ but you can always visit in person (you know if you are sick or something like that) in Plageman, which is right next to Kelley. SHS provides primary medical care for students, treats illnesses and does a lot of health awareness work on campus. I’ve been in there a couple times doing things for a Peace Corps medical evaluation and let me tell you… if they were that helpful with all my crazy demanding paperwork and that nice to me even though I wasn’t sick – I can only imagine how helpful they’d be to someone who didn’t need paperwork filled out and how nice they would be to someone who felt terrible.
Of course you don’t have to be feeling terrible to go in there. One department within SHS is the Health Promotion Department whose mission is “to enhance the health of students through acquisition of knowledge and skills and to provide leadership in the development of a community that supports healthy lifestyles (choices) through ongoing collaborative relationships with the campus and community resources.” What do they do to achieve their mission? Well first, they have programs about Sexual Health, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Sexual Assault Prevention, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Stress and Body Image. Secondly they sponsor events like World AIDS Day, Speakers Bureaus, Health Screenings and Beaver Strides, as well as providing Health Coaching and Tobacco Cessation Services. Thirdly they facilitate the Peer Health Advocates (PHA) which is a group of student volunteers which operates on three levels. They focus on 1. Outreach and Events (which is actually how I thought about writing this blog – I attended the Red Dress Fashion Show which they organized) 2. Social Advocacy and 3. Service Learning. For a volunteer application to PHA or a list of their events (which include things like ‘The Condom Carnival’, ‘Intimacy and Relationships: Talking it Out!’, ‘Penis Bingo’ <I’m not even sure I’m allowed to say that on here>, and ‘How to be an Advocate for Sexual Reproductive Justice’) you can go to http://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/pha.
Now to copy SHS I’d like to conclude this with…
Be well Beavers!
Amber
