A refreshing club that allows time to relax and take care yourself
Inaaya Adam
Staff Writer
AHS has a new club dedicated to teaching students how to take care of themselves. The self-care club advocates healthy and happy lifestyles and creates a safe space for students.
The president and founder, Joanna Abejar (12), got the idea for the club in her junior year during quarantine.
“During quarantine, I was in a very bad mental state. I would not go outside my room, I would not breathe in fresh air. I did not want to see myself harm myself any further, and other people harm themselves as well; so, I decided [to] start a club to encourage people to start taking care of themselves,” Abejar explains.
Having a healthy mental and physical state is crucial for a stable lifestyle. Some people struggle to make time for themselves, Abejar created a system so personal care is easier to execute.
Since this is a new club, a lot of effort went into bringing peoples’ attention to it. Iman Tariq (12) is the secretary for the self-care club and explains the energy that went into it.
“It was a little difficult at the beginning because we really put our all into club rush week. We threw it in everyone’s faces, ‘join our club, join our club!’ and it was really successful because we have had a lot of attendance in meetings and people are excited for our club,” Tariq reveals.
“We’ve had positive feedback and heard people saying it is a fun club and that they are feeling stress free. Our mission statement is providing that outlet for people to become stress free; I feel like it has been successful,” Abejar reflects on the growth of the club.
The Self-Care Club has spiked an interest within the students in a short time. The idea of having an outlet for unwinding is appealing and popular.
Grace Megan (9) is a member of the self-care club and joined to learn how to take care of herself in a stressful environment.
“It’s helped me shift my priorities, in terms of taking care of myself. I’ve learned that time management and maintaining a healthy sleep schedule helps reduce stress levels, especially as a high school student,” Megan shares.
She has already learned key factors to a nourishing schedule in the short time she has been a part of the club.
The club has an emphasis on mental, physical, and emotional health and the proper way to educate people on it. Abejar gives insight on how this is incorporated in meetings.
“During meetings, we educate people on how to prioritize working out, skincare, having a good diet, and a good sleep schedule. We’ve had one event so far and we taught them how to eat in moderation, but also eat for pleasure. Our first event they decorated treat bags for Halloween, and we gave them face masks and chapstick but we also gave granola and candy,” Abejar elaborates.
The club was created because self-care should have a prominent role in everyone’s life. The people involved in this group go out of their way to ensure their fellow students have an opportunity for a steady routine.
Megan further expresses the importance she has for self-care, “Self-care is an obligation, similar to how school and homework are too. [Although], taking care of yourself is a must, before anything else you must do in a day.”
Health maintenance is often expected but treated as an open discussion. Especially in a work environment like high school, it is typical to unintentionally neglect taking time for oneself.
These are items similar to those that were in a treat bag given to by the Self-Care Club during their first event. The event took place right before Halloween on 10/28/21 and those who joined were able to decorate their own bags, the bags contained face masks, chapstick, granola and candy. Abejar explains that the purpose of the event was to teach the club members that “it’s good to eat healthy but at the same time it’s okay to indulge in food that will make them happy.”
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