We, the Student Wellbeing Awareness Team (SWAT), want to share some helpful wellbeing tips with you! Spend time getting to know the services that are here to help your wellbeing. The main one to check out is Mauri Ora Student Health and Counselling. Pop in and say hello — the friendly team is more than happy to help you out. Disability Services is another great resource if you’re experiencing some form of impairment (from physical to emotional, like anxiety or depression) and you think it might impact your study now or later. Other amazing services on campus include VUWSA, Student Learning, the Women’s Room, Te Pūtahi Atawhai, and the Recreation Centre.
If you are wondering how you are going to eat healthy on a budget over the year, don’t worry — every Wednesday of the trimester the fruit and vege market runs in the Tim Beaglehold Courtyard. Later in the trimester there will also be the fruit and vege co-op where you can buy a bag of fruit and a bag of vegetables for $10–12 every week!
More tips from the SWAT volunteers:
Don’t compare where you are to everyone else! It’s so easy to do, especially in a university environment, and it can be hard on your overall wellbeing! Focus on yourself; everyone is at different stages in their life. —Jaylee
Keep a regular daily routine, such as going to bed and waking up at the same time, eating well and on time every day, etc. — Sharpay
Listen to funny podcasts while walking to uni to drown out the existential worries in your head. — Ella
Avoid the 4 C’s: Compare, Criticise, Complain, and Compete with others. — Ha
Learn to be kind to yourself e.g. not feeling bad if you want to watch a film or go to the cinema, cooking yourself something extra nice for dinner, or sleeping in when you’ve worked hard the night before. — Taryn