The annual “What’s Love Got to Do with It” event focused on themes of self-care, self-love and how to maintain these healthy practices in the midst of hectic college schedules.

Hosted by Dickinson College’s Beta Epsilon Chapter of the Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc., the event drew 30 students on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in HUB side rooms 204 and 205.

Several stations were arranged around the space. The activities included a “Love Language Quiz,” materials with advice on self-care, love letters to self and a valentine making table. Sorority president Silvana Alarcon ’18 said the annual event was originally created to “gain insight on the variation of love that we can experience.”

This year’s workshops were focused on self-love, which is something Alarcon says can fall by the wayside in a college environment. The stations were organized around a theme of knowing your own relationship style and how to take care of yourself. The tips for mindfulness included positive self-talk, mindfulness in daily activities and remembering to reflect on your day and how you felt throughout it.

Attendees came from many areas of the campus community. Sorority members were there, as well as friends and others interested in self-care. The event was very social, and people dropped in throughout. Participants left with a seven-step guide to self-love. Guidelines on this “Prescription for Self-Love” include becoming mindful, acting based on need, practicing self-care, setting boundaries, protecting yourself, forgiving yourself and living intentionally. These are all areas that the article proposes as self-improving, but also as beneficial to relationships with others.

Sorority member Kristina Rodriguez ’19 said, “It’s great to be able to provide an intimate space for people to come and feel comfortable while participating in activities that allow them to get to know themselves more and really self-reflect. Self-love is something I am personally passionate about because I feel that we all deserve love and the more we can spread it, the better the community will be for all of us.”

Attendees were encouraged to write to themselves in positive self-talk, and craft supplies were available for Valentine’s Day cards to other students. The love letters to self and Valentine’s cards written and crafted were collected and were deposited in students’ HUB boxes on Valentine’s Day.

Alarcon said that, “Our event was a success… Our hope is to continue to empower people on campus, and spread the importance of self-love because it helps improve happiness and confidence in oneself.”

To see the seven tips for Self-Love, visit https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/get-hardy/201203/seven-step-prescription-self-love.