On October 16, 2020 President Junn hosted Stan State’s first Feel Good Friday which was opened to faculty and students. Feel Good Friday’s are hosted by President Junn with the intention of sharing positive moments of the week. The next meetings will deal with a variety of different uplifting topics that participants are welcome to partake in. 

With the online transition Stan State has made, elements of the Stan State experience has been lost. President Junn’s intentions of Feel Good Friday are to keep these moments alive. “I hope to host two or three of these a month to see how everyone is doing. Mostly because of COVID, we never get to see each other anymore.” the President shares. “I can’t see you on campus. I can’t run into you in the hallway, and it’s just harder to feel connected and to know how people are doing.” 

Feel Good Fridays are on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to the nature of a formal meeting. Instead, people were encouraged to chat and dive into conversations amongst one another. President Junn says, “This is not supposed to be a formal meeting… We can discuss what we are going to do for the weekend, how we are coping with quarantining, and just checking in.”  

With everything being online, President Junn hopes to bring a sense of normalcy back into day-to-day life through Feel Good Friday. Considering it was the first meeting, the participants discussed why they wanted to join. Clint Strode (Chief of Police) shared, “I joined [Feel Good Friday] because, before COVID, the best part of the work day was pre-meeting chit chat. I love being able to interact with people and hearing about what they did for the weekend. These types of interactions are what keeps me going through the workday, and we’re missing out on this.” 

Coming from a student’s perspective, Sara Aaerestad (senior, Child Development) says, “I saw this meeting through the Warrior Newsletter. Even though it’s midterms and I have loads of work to do, I thought to myself, I should just go because it’s probably going to be awesome.” 

This meeting’s specific topic was to share something uplifting that makes you feel good or makes other people feel good. Although every meeting is not restricted to following the topic, everyone was glad to engage in this conversation. 

A sentiment that uplifted everyone’s spirits in the meeting came from Gabriel Bolton (Women’s Soccer Coach). Bolton says, “Something that has uplifted me is actually a quote I heard from a baseball coach at Stan State. He says, ‘I don’t want you to play at Stan State, you are Stan State.’” Bolton adds, “Stan State is more than just a physical location. It’s the people. We aren’t just students, faculty, and staff here. We are Stan State.”  

The sentiment given by Bolton left Rosalee Rush (University’s Communication of Public Affairs) with a smile on her face. She later shares what she has been doing in order to stay sane during quarantine. Rush says, “My team has been working on self care. I have just been checking in to see if they are still holding true to the goals they have set themselves about taking breaks, getting enough sleep, and taking a walk.” She adds, “They even send me beautiful pictures when they are on the walks and it really blesses my soul and my spirits.”

The participants of the meeting agreed that there are many sentiments and daily practices they will be adopting into their lives. With COVID lingering on the minds of everyone in the meeting,  Zona Zaragaoza (Student Support Specialist at Stockton Campus) had everyone leaving with different outlooks on quarantine.

Zaragaoza shares something that she learned from her daughter that left everyone touched, “If I say something negative, she [her daughter] has me say three things that are positive to counteract it. It makes you think twice before saying anything negative.” She adds, “For example, if I tell her the COVID numbers are going up, I then have to follow up with 3 positive things like having dinner with my family, being able to go on a walk, and having social media to stay connected to my friends and family.”  

Feel Good Friday is a public event that is open to any faculty and students who are interested. You can find more information about the event by checking for President Junn’s emails. Simply RSVP if you are interested and you will receive a link for the meeting. With the first meeting being a success, President Junn looks forward to hosting many more Feel Good Fridays throughout the semester.