A shift in weather and a location change did not stop Self Care in Fresh Air, Dickinson College Farm’s annual spring event, from taking place indoors.

The event was described on its Facebook page as “an afternoon to recharge and practice self-care” alongside farm staff. Ten Dickinson organizations representing community, personal care and environmental groups, hosted activities and  crafts for students.
Olivia Riordan ’21, representing the Random Acts of Kindness Club (RAK), believes that self-care is about “showing yourself that you care for yourself, and it’s showing yourself it’s okay when things go wrong because there’s ways to feel better and life is going to get better and things will turn up.” RAK sponsored a rock-painting table, where students could write positive messages on rocks to keep for themselves or to hide around campus.
Riordan, who led a week-long Kindness Challenge as RAK’s president, added that “I think it’s really cool that Self Care in Fresh Air coincided with Kindness Week because one of the most important kinds of kindness is kindness to yourself.”
Chloe Goldstein ’18, who helped run a table for Psychology Club, emphasized the importance of the club’s connection to other organizations.
“I think that Psych Club crosses over with all these clubs,” Goldstein said. “The idea of self-care comes from how you behave psychologically…we’re doing an ‘iceberg’ activity where outside [you write] what you do for others and inside [you write] what you do for yourself. I think all these clubs here intersect well.”
Tom O’Donnell ’19, representing the Alliance for Aquatic Resources Monitoring (ALLARM), sought to use the environmental organization’s table to educate others about its work with storm-water runoff.
“A large part of ALLARM’s work is to increase awareness of storm-water [rain or snow that flows over ground surfaces], and it’s really important to understand how it works because it’s picking up pollutants,” O’Donnell said. “Today, we’re basically focusing on cars, because cars can produce heavy metals and toxins, like when you wash your car and the water runs off onto the pavement.”
Other hands-on activities included guided meditation, yoga and a nutrition demonstration on making healthy breakfast tacos.

Self Care in Fresh Air was initially scheduled to be held at the College Farm, following the annual spring Bike to Farm Potluck. A forecast of snow and cold temperatures prompted the College Farm to change the event’s venue on Thursday, April 5 to the Center for Sustainability Education Lobby in Kaufman Hall. The accompanying Bike to Farm Potluck was canceled

The change in location was useful for Gaby Corcoran ’19, whose schoolwork kept her from making the commitment to spend three hours on the farm.
“I really wanted to go to the thing on the farm, but I didn’t realize it’d be in here [Kaufman’s Center for Sustainability Education Lobby],” Corcoran said. “It’s actually really nice…I’ve totally been neglecting [self-care] in this part of the semester, so it’s really cool to get back in touch with yourself.”
Self Care in Fresh Air was held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 and was sponsored by the College Farm.