There’s a gap in wellness education programs on college campuses

Colleges and universities are beginning to address the well-being of eighteen- to twenty-five-year-old young adults in their college educational experiences by hiring well-being professionals. For example, this employment listing from a highly-competitive private liberal arts college in the Northeast is for a director of health and wellness education. “The Director of Health and Wellness Education will develop, implement and evaluate a broad-based health and wellness education program with a focus on alcohol and drug use, sexual assault prevention and response, stress management, and bystander intervention programs” (HigherEdJobs.com). While this is a good start, we have observed that most wellness education programs are likely reactions to mental and physical health crises, with a focus on alcohol and drug use, sexual assault, and stress management. If frontline educators can teach young adults self-knowledge and how to create a paradigm shift in their abilities to experience life and create the life of their calling, we would then teach preventatively during college how to find inner peace and understanding when faced with the stressors of modern life. The emphasis should be placed on teaching self-knowledge as a significant protective factor for use over one’s life-span.