Staying healthy isn’t always easy, especially on a college campus. As part of a new health initiative on campus, the Student Wellness Center has begun to offer a new program to help members of the Elizabethtown College community with health and wellness.
During the spring semester, The Well will host a variety of activities for the “Take Care Tuesday” series. Every Tuesday, students are invited to come to events with topics ranging from self-defense to cooking to meditation. During these events, the Well hopes to offer students valuable life skills, health tips and new ways to stay healthy. These events are organized by the Student Wellness Advocacy Group (SWAG) and by the Student Wellness Center.
Amanda Cheetham, health educator on campus, and SWAG member Linh Nguyen are two workers at The Well who helped to put together the “Take Care Tuesday” program. The two spoke on the organization of the event series. “‘Take Care Tuesdays’ is a new program on campus, so this will happen every Tuesday,” Nguyen said. “We try to think of a new program or event to be a part of that series. We try to think of as many programs as possible to increase diversity, so that’s why we chose acupuncture as the first that we came up with.”
For the first “Take Care Tuesday,” the event was held in the KAV at 8 p.m. Students and members of the Etown community were welcome to stop by and learn more about acupuncture. A specialist spoke on the topic, offering acupuncture to those willing to give it a try. “I think it’s one of those things where people have heard of acupuncture, but not a lot of people have had firsthand experience with it,” Cheetham said. “This is a good opportunity where you don’t have to pay, you don’t have to sign up and you can just come and see what it’s about. You don’t have to have the needles stuck in you. You can just hear and see about it and maybe learn something new. Maybe this is something you will be very interested in.”
Here in the United States, medicine works in a different way than in the East. “In China and in a lot of Asian countries, they are more opposed to surgery or any type of medication,” Nguyen said. “For example, when you have a headache or a bad stomach ache, acupuncturists stick a needle in your body. The body actually has several different spots that can make different parts of your body feel better.”
“There are different pressure points on the body where small needles are stuck in that you can’t even feel,” Cheetham added. “I’ve done acupuncture for years. Sticking the small needle in increases the circulation in and also gets your energy flowing around that area. It’s definitely an alternative medicine practice to avoid surgery and avoiding taking medicines. There are acupressure points for anything like allergies, headaches, increasing your immune system, stress and basically any mental or physical injury. Acupuncture can help change the energy in your body and help you feel better.” This practice of alternative medicine ties into the whole idea of “Take Care Tuesdays.” “That’s the point of the program, to talk more about holistic medicine, not just Western medicine, working out and eating right,” Cheetham said.
Despite the benefits of acupuncture, it is not as popular in the United States as it is in the East. Nguyen suggested that the fast, busy culture of the U.S. is partially due to this phenomenon. “You want everything to be done fast,” Nguyen said. “Acupuncture is a process. You can’t get it done right away. It’s a process of getting your body healthier and healthier every day.” It is also a process to recover and completely get rid of the problem, which can take some time out of a person’s schedule. “It’s something in the East that we focus on, like doing something over days and days, not fast,” Nguyen said. “Also, a lot of people here seem to be afraid of needles and exotic, alternative medicine. It’s a traditional and casual thing in the East.”
Cheetham added that people focus on what can make a person feel better right away, and they focus on the part of the body that is not feeling well. “Our society is definitely based on pills and how we can feel better today,” Cheetham said. “Traditional Chinese medicine is more about your whole body and whole self, not just putting a Band-Aid on the problem, but fixing your whole self. Their values are on holistic wellness and preventative medicine; it is not just fixing something when it’s broken, but fixing up yourself before you get sick.”
The “Take Care Tuesday” series will be occurring every Tuesday at 8 p.m. with various events. Those participating at the event will be entered into a raffle to win an iPad. Each event is free and organized by the Student Wellness Center and SWAG. For more information and a list of events, email the Student Wellness Center at STUDENTWELLNESS@ETOWN.EDU.
