Student coloring the mindfulness banner at the Just BE Mindfulness event. Photo by Skyler Shepard.

Overwhelmed students got the opportunity to put their minds at ease when Wellness & Health Promotion Services hosted its Just BE Mindfulness event on Sept. 21.

Tents from different clubs and services were placed across Memory Mall for students to experience and participate in mindfulness activities. The Recreation and Wellness Center held a yoga session for students to experience a physical way of practicing mindfulness and Wellness & Health Promotion Servies held a cooking demonstration with Fresh U. The Arboretum let students paint pots and plant seeds as a way to show students taking care of a plant can not only benefit themselves but the environment.


UCF Arboretum volunteers handing out pots and paint to students. Photo by Skyler Shepard.

UCF PD brought their therapy dog Chipper for students to pet and play with and students made aromatherapy bottles from their choice of essential oils with WHPS. at the end of all that students could take home a t-shirt—along with items they made at each station.

The lead coordinator of the event, Pamela Mills, wanted students to leave the event feeling refreshed and at ease. After 20 months of being indoors—she wanted students to have fun in an outdoor setting.

The Just BE Mindfulness event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, and with students feeling stressed from the pandemic and their classes, Mills wanted to help students with this event.

“We wanted students to get to experience the mindfulness activities with other like-minded students,” Mills said. “It’s been a hard two years for students, hopefully, they’ll be able to take practices like these and use them in the future.”


Sophomore, Sophia Georgieva, walking through the mindfulness maze. Photo by Skyler Shepard.

In the center of it all was a Mindfulness Maze, students were given the opportunity to walk around the maze with their troubled thoughts only to walk out with a cleared conscience. Sophomore Sophia Georgieva went into the maze feeling stressed about the exams she had taken—only to leave with a sense of clarity on her situation.

“I found out about something that really stressed me out and I had two exams today—I couldn’t really think straight because of the stress,” Georgieva said. “I walked through the maze and calmed down, I’m glad to be here.”

With the major success of the Just BE Mindfulness event, UCF plans to host another wellness event in the Spring.