When winter break rolls around at Princeton, you have several options for how to spend it. You could stay at home with your family, and come back to campus at the end of January (when the Spring semester starts). Or you could be like me, and return to campus two weeks early for Wintersession.
Wintersession, organized by the Office of Campus Engagement, is a free opportunity for students and faculty members to take classes on anything they want. Past offerings include playing Dungeons and Dragons, decorating cakes, and going on day trips to Broadway. The best part about Wintersession is that there are no grades. What matters is that everyone has fun.
Anybody can teach a Wintersession class. You simply visit the online application, and provide the name/description of your Wintersession offering and your bio written in the third person. You also need to provide details such as your technology needs, your ideal number of participants, and your budget for purchasing materials. If this sounds overwhelming, don't worry, the small but mighty Office of Campus Engagement team will always be there to answer your questions!
I taught my first Wintersession class entitled "The Feeling Power of Mental Health Journaling" my sophomore year. I got the idea from working as a Community Action Fellow with the Pace Center for Civic Engagement.
As part of my CA groups learning about creativity and mental health, I asked poet Topaz Winters '23 to teach virtual journaling workshops. My first year students felt lighter dumping their anticipatory anxiety onto paper, rather than tucking away their heavy baggage. I wanted to recreate this same safe space. Hence, I capped my workshop at twenty people to keep it intimate. I also wanted to get back into journaling. And what better way to hold myself accountable than by journaling in community?
Fast forward to January 16, 2024: the scheduled day of my workshop. Thick snow piles covered our campus, making me wonder if my participants would show up. But despite the snowstorm, ten students and faculty members joined me inside Frist Campus Center.
I walked my participants through examples of different types of journaling — gratitude journaling, reflective journaling, and manifestation journaling — through ten minute guided prompts. My favorite part was hearing what everyone wrote. Some participants were using Winter Break to get back into old hobbies, like writing a novel. Others, instead of using words, used pictures to express their emotions. There were even participants who disliked writing, but who opened their minds up to my workshop and ultimately fell in love with journaling.
All in all, “The Feeling Power of Mental Health Journaling” was a powerful way for students and staff members to validate each other's experiences. It's why I’m thrilled to announce that for its second year, "The Feeling Power of Mental Health Journaling" will be offered during Wintersession 2025. I look forward to once again spreading my passions for writing and mental health to the rest of the Princeton community!