Five Questions FOR Rachael McNamara ’00

What is wellness, and what is well-being?

Wellness is about the holistic personal choices people make for themselves around wellness, like nutrition, exercise and stress management. Well-being is about larger-scale social and environmental factors like friends, partners and community, as well as where people live, including aspects of their physical environment like green spaces, air, water and safety.

What new programs have you introduced?

We have expanded dog therapy, an evidence-based activity to reduce stress, and also hold weekly meditation, training to increase skills at helping others and, one of our favorites, cooking classes with student organizations. Around a meal, you can see barriers break down and people start to relax. There’s nothing like meeting and bonding over food.

You advise a student-led program called Students 4 Support. How does S4S work?

S4S was created to give students a space to talk with certified and trained peers. In addition to having the opportunity to meet in person, S4S has a texting platform that gives students the ability to seek support and understanding on the go. It’s incredibly impactful for students to have the opportunity to speak with someone their age with similar experiences.

Are we in a mental health crisis?

If you had asked me in fall of 2023, I would have said that we were starting to see positive gains since the pandemic, but this year, we seem to be falling back. We may be in a mental health crisis. Our children and young adults are dealing with a lot that impacts their mental health and wellness. Although it’s easy to blame a generation, if an entire group is struggling, then a question we should ask ourselves is, “What has happened in our society that helped to create the struggle?” There is a correlation between the use of cell phones and an increase in social anxiety, loneliness and isolation. We have also observed that the use of phones has decreased the opportunity for chatting in informal spaces like waiting for a class to start. We are still trying to figure things out, but it seems pretty conclusive that scrolling in general tends to lower one’s mood while writing and reading positive comments can increase one’s mood.

Has student wellness and well-being changed since you were a student at the College?

While we had a version of student life to create a sense of belonging, students’ desire for programming and wellness education has grown exponentially. This growth is due to the awareness of the challenges students face and the needs they express. Nationally, students share a strong desire for a focus on wellness and well-being, and part of the reason is because they struggle emotionally due to challenges that this generation has had to experience, which can impact their motivation and productivity.