On Feb. 4, the Counseling and Wellness Center at St. Joseph’s University, New York, in collaboration with the Peer Health Educators of Long Island, hosted Soil to Soul in the Student Center. Held during common hour, the event was open to all SJNY students on the Long Island campus.
At Soil to Soul, students picked out a plant provided by local nurseries, decorated its pot and planted it in soil.
Jayden Barlow ‘25 and Julia Monte ‘26, peer health educators who led the event, shared that their inspiration stemmed from fellow peer health educator, Alfred Simeone ‘26, whose father is an avid gardener and has talked about how gardening has helped with his mental health. Motivated by this, Barlow, Monte and Simeone wanted to raise awareness about the benefits of gardening as an effective stress reliever and its contribution to one’s overall well-being.
In addition, Barlow mentioned future plans to potentially develop an on-campus garden to give students a place to be in nature and encourage mental wellness.
