Students who took the time to be part of the Health Fair Tuesday morning had the opportunity to learn about some of the many health related services available to them on campus.
The Health Fair took place just this previous Tuesday, Oct. 4 on Raider walk and was created with the goal of providing students with awareness on all the services that are available to them from the school and from community organizations nearby.
“If I had a nickel every time a student doesn’t know we have a student health center I would be a rich women.” Said Allison Barton, Health Educator.
Barton said this was the largest crowd of students to attended the health fair, and that there were more booths than in past years.
As part of Domestic Violence Awareness month, the Clothesline Project, an organization created to bring awareness to the issue of violence against women, was among the groups attending the fair.
According to Moorpark College Sociology Professor Karith Meyers, the project has spent over 25 years increasing the visibility of the issues of domestic abuse in America by having survivors tell their stories on shirts that are afterwards hung in a public space.
T-shirts designed by victims of abuse were hung along the fence of Raider Walk with descriptive images and slogans. Purple ribbons were also handed out to be worn, showing support to the survivors and victims.
“First we raise awareness, and once we do that we have students of all ages, male and female coming to say they need help,” Meyers said. “So then we send them to Sharon Manakas in the Health Department. They have a whole counseling department and the resources to help them.”
Advance Family Vision wished to spread the word about how important the relationship between health and vision is.
The optometrist group brought students in by having them try to play a modified version of a common tailgating game called “corn hole,” the goal of which is to toss a small smack of corn into a five-inch hole from a set distance away.
Swimming goggles were altered and provided to students to emulate symptoms of three different optical illnesses like Cataracts, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD). All three sets of goggles had a different altercation to the lens like blurred vision, dark floating spots, or decreased color or contrast, making an accurate toss immensely more difficult and providing a view of what a life could be like with one of these illnesses.
“That was a lot harder than it looked.” Said Matthew Lindquist, 23-year-old Communications major who tried his hand at the game. “I thought even with the glasses [goggles] on I would know where the hole was.”
Of course, the Student Health Center had a booth on site, informing students about some of the many services accessible through the Health Center.
Sharon Manakas, Health Center Coordinator wants Moorpark College students to be aware of the services provided to them free of charge, matching most of the duties your family physician usually does plus a variety of different counseling services from mental health to nutritional guidance.
Both Manakas and Barton hope this event was able to let students know they have a free resource to go to on campus for physical and mental treatment.
“Everybody has needs,” says Manakas. “If a student takes away one thing from this event, it’s a success.”
The Health Fair takes place on Raider Walk once a year but services that attended the event can be accessed through the Health Center Department in the Administration Building, Room 111 or can be contacted at (805) 378-1413.
