Thrive at Lafayette

Story by: Sarah Aparicio ’25

Photography by: Upendra Pandey ’23

To help kick off the fall semester, Lafayette’s Counseling Center and LaFarm co-hosted their fifth annual Thrive on the Quad. The event’s goal is to remind students to stop and reconnect with themselves using personal growth pillars: gratitude, mindfulness, self-compassion, digital detox, sleep, growth mindset, connection, and exercise. The event also reminds students that they have a support team here at Lafayette.

Focusing on cultivating personal growth, activity stations were placed around the Quad in front of Farinon Student Center. These activity stations ranged from making bookmarks, creating mindfulness rocks and soothing stones, to spinning a trivia wheel, challenging friends, playing yard games, and learning reconnecting techniques. Students also were invited to pick out a plant and decorate a pot to take home as a reminder to continue to care for themselves and support their own growth during their college experience.

“I thought the Thrive event was a great way to think about self-appreciation and self-love,” says Val McNeilly ’26. “Through the stations, we were reminded of ways to help us stay grounded and practice self-care. It was fun to talk to everyone else during the process, and the plant at the end was so cute, too!” 

Throughout the semester, a new weekly series of gatherings, Thriving on Campus, will be available for students to continue to engage in wellness activities, enhancing their connections with themselves and the campus community.