The Student Wellness Center strives to make sure students can be their healthiest selves possible.

The Student Wellness Centre is the best place to go on campus for anything regarding health and wellness, with their variety of services ranging from mental health counselling to medical care. 

An integral part of the SWC are the health promoters who work hard to ensure that students have access to the resources they need to be their healthiest selves.  

One of these health promoters is Madison Behr. Working with students has been a rewarding experience for Behr. Her primary role consists of focusing on sexual health and substance abuse programming. This role has allowed a lot of creativity and cooperation with other departments, giving her the opportunity to interact with others. She explained some of her favourite people to work with are the work-study students and the volunteer with the Wellness Outreach Teams.  

Working with students has been a rewarding experience for Behr. Her primary role consists of focusing on sexual health and substance abuse programming. This role has allowed a lot of creativity and cooperation with other departments, giving her the opportunity to interact with others.

Behr described the various tasks with her role, including meeting with students and departments to organize and host events, interacting with students on campus and creating health promotion campaigns.  

Recently, the SWC has launched the #SexTalkTuesday campaign on social media to answer questions from students about sexual health and their Free Flow program, which gives out free menstrual products to students. Along with these programs, the SWC also has drop-in programs which hand out free condoms and lubes for students to practice safe sex. 

Behr aspires for students to find the SWC to be a safe and accommodating space to go when they need any type of health support.  

“I hope students will walk away knowing that they are cared for and that there are people on campus who are here to help if they are ever in need . . .[and] that there is a safe space for them at the SWC where they can feel comfortable and welcomed,” she said.  

“I hope students will walk away knowing that they are cared for and that there are people on campus who are here to help if they are ever in need . . .[and] that there is a safe space for them at the SWC where they can feel comfortable and welcomed,”

Madison Behr, SWC Health Promoter

Behr also wanted to ensure students know to come to the SWC to access any services they need, especially for sexual health. The Wellness Lounge are also available as a free space for students to use. This space is also the base where health promoters operate if students wish to contact them.  

The SWC is a great place to visit for any student’s health needs. Behr and her team at SWC want students to take advantage of the free resources and services they offer. If any students find themselves in need of health advice and assistance, the SWC health promoters hope that their organization is the first thing to come to mind, while doing their best to help make university life easier with their programs and initiatives.

The Silhouette: Please introduce yourself.  

Celina Ruan: My name is Celina. I am in my third year of the Honours Biochemistry program. I'm involved in a couple clubs at McMaster [University] such as the MSU SWHAT service. I'm also a part of the Wellness Outreach Team for the Student Wellness Center.  

What is SWHAT?  

SWHAT is a service under the MSU and it stands for Student Walk Home Attendant Team. We are a group of volunteer walkers that help walk students home. It is a free, confidential and safe service that provides free walks or [accompanied] bus rides to anyone in the McMaster community, on or off campus. We have a service area of around half an hour and we operate seven days a week from 7 pm to 1 am. We can walk anyone home during that time. Say someone has a night class and they don't want to walk them alone, they can request a walk ahead of time or just call in and we'll send off walkers with flashlights and walkie-talkies. Our services are to make sure everyone gets a safe walk home.  

Why did you become involved with SWHAT?  

I got involved in SWHAT in my second year in the winter semester. I applied to be a walker. I started in that semester and I thought it was just a really great community. All the [executive members] and other walkers are all really nice. It was also just a really nice space to go in the evenings, just to play board games or work while being there to bring safety to the community. Then, in my third year, I saw the opportunity to apply to be an exec. I thought the service that SWHAT provides was really important, especially because there have been some instances on or near campus that have affected the safety of McMaster students. It'd be really important to help provide a sense of overall safety and wellness to my classmates and other people in the McMaster community.  

Some students are worried that they are too awkward or that it will be weird to have two strangers walking home with them. What do you have to say about that?  

I think that can definitely be a hesitation for a lot of people to start using SWHAT. You might think: "I don't know if it'll be convenient. It'll be awkward." But we can promise you that we'll try to match your energy. If you prefer a quiet walk, we can join you on a quiet walk. But if you would like a conversation, we have two friendly and welcoming volunteers that can provide that for you on your walk home.  

"I think that can definitely be a hesitation for a lot of people to start using SWHAT. You might think: "I don't know if it'll be convenient. It'll be awkward." But we can promise you that we'll try to match your energy. If you prefer a quiet walk, we can join you on a quiet walk. But if you would like a conversation, we have two friendly and welcoming volunteers that can provide that for you on your walk home."

Celina Ruan

We've had walks from campus to Shoppers Drug Mart, anywhere on campus or one of our most frequent requests is to parking lot M. I think some of the most common misconceptions are how many times you can use it. We are a free service and there is no limit to how many times you can request a walk. Our aim is just to provide campus safety.  

How would a student book a SWHAT walk? 

The usual process from start to finish on the SWHAT walk is pretty straightforward. So we get some requests using our Microsoft Teams form. So that can be booked ahead of time but a lot of our requests come from calls during our operating hours. You can call our dispatcher and we'll take down your name, time, location and even the gender of your choice for the walkers.  

Any other comments?  

Just don't be afraid to request a walk. Our service is there just so you can use it. We're active seven days a week and we're more than happy to provide a walk. Later in the fall semester, we'll be having an event called the Walkathon. For one month, we will select a charity or a nonprofit organization. For every walk that is requested, we will be giving $1 to that charity. If you're looking to walk somewhere and would like a partner, call SWHAT!