In the campus center on the second floor lies the Wellness Center, the place to go when you have any form of health issues. Whether it’s physical or mental, they’re guaranteed to help you out. 

Jacqueline Eddy is the Associate Director of Health and Wellness on the Castleton campus in the Wellness Center and hopes to bring awareness of what the center has to offer. 

 “Our Wellness Center has great resources.  We offer both counseling and nursing services.” Jackie says. 

She notes that all services are free and confidential to all Castleton students, and the counselors at the center take a holistic approach to all areas of health. They not only offer mental health services but free nursing services too! Eddy emphasizes the abundance of free resources they are able to offer students such as pregnancy tests, condoms, over the counter medicine, first aid items, fentanyl testing strips and so much more.

Eddy says that the wellness center is always advertising by “sending out emails to all students, signage across campus, bulletin boards in the campus center, tabling throughout the campus, and giving presentations at student orientations and CNX classes.” So keep your eye out for these advertisements as well as on campus events as well. 

In fact, this past week The Wellness Center had a table on the bottom floor of the Campus Center to help support and bring awareness to suicide prevention. At this event, there were free stickers and posters as well as bead necklaces for students to wear proudly that were color-coded to represent loss of a family member, self-harm, etc. Events like these are great for student engagement, promotion of The Wellness Center, and a broader message like suicide prevention.

 Eddy makes it clear that she believes students especially can benefit from additional support in their lives, especially because they are experiencing so many new transitions and changes. She encourages students to take advantage of all that The Wellness Center has to offer. 

“There is always one more option,” Eddy says. “And sometimes, we can forget that when we are stressed and overwhelmed.  That’s where we can come in.  We can help explore options!” 

Jeanean Dunlap, the current Senior Staff Assistant at the Wellness Center for the past five years, says that she loves “that everything is free for the students”. Including mental health counseling and nurse visits.”

 Like Eddy, Dunlap also notes the surplus of free items they are able to give students. “And if you are in need of something else just let us know.” Dunlap says.

Dunlap goes on to say that she wants students to know that “everything is confidential and they can stop in anytime from 9-4 M-F.” They can simply show up during these hours without an appointment and will be seen by a counselor. 

Many students both on and off campus speak incredibly highly about the Wellness Center and all it has to offer,  Mackenzie Sturgill being one of them.

 “I totally recommend it! I sing that place’s praises.” She says that she would “recommend it to anyone who just needs a listening ear, a space to relax, someone to trust, a place where you can get items if you need them” 

Angelina Gotshall is another student who uses the Wellness Center. “I don’t use the Wellness Center that often, but when I do it’s usually either for a counseling session when things get really stressful, whether that’s academically or socially, or if I’m not feeling great and need to go see someone really quick for something simple,” she says. 

Gotshall goes on to say that she “thinks the Wellness Center is a great resource and they can help with a bunch of stuff. I would recommend students to go there, especially for the counseling aspect of it.”

The Wellness Center is of course welcome to all, and they would love to see new students come in and take advantage of all the resources and items that they offer. 

Eddy puts it best saying, “We WANT to work with them(students), We have no judgment for why they are seeking out services. We are here to be supportive and objective and will not stereotype, stigmatize, or ridicule a person concerning their worries or issues. They are never an inconvenience; and no issue is too “small.”