A self-care club for women found a place on Harding's campus. Nurture Thyself was created to promote self-care for young women at Harding. Alumna Ashley Hudson introduced the group in 2018 under the name Shine Brightly. Shortly after, Hudson passed the group to junior Nautica Ivy, who renamed it NurturTe hyself. Ivy said both she and Hudson had a vision of creating a safe place on campus for women to learn about self-care. "We just wanted this to be a place where we can learn about self-care, learning how to love yourself [and] finding [out] about toxic relationships -- not just with guys, but with friends and family as well," Ivy said. Freshman Melanie Garcia said the group benefited her during her first semester at Harding in fall 2019. "As women, I know we tend to get caught up in the things we assume in our heads," Garcia said. "This group is amazing, because [Nautica] has taken her time to build a safe environment for girls to come together and express themselves knowing they won't be judged." Shanna Jones, ·instructor of family and consumer sciences, said the concept of self-care was overlooked for a long time but was still important to one's overall health. "I do not think that we were taught to take care of ourselves; that was seen as being selfish and wrong," Jones said. "But what I have realized through the years is that we have to take care of ourselves in order to give our best to everyone else." Jones said self-care included healthy daily, weekly and monthly habits. She said with the busyness of modern society, it was difficult to implement those habits into her schedule. Jones said this club would be a great addition to campus because it .encouraged making the time to practice self-care habits regularly. The group's main focus was to foster a comforting atmosphere. Ivy said she wanted the group to be like any other club on campus. "This is a place they can come to where they can talk to people who are different from their backgrounds and get to know different people," Ivy said. "Being united in sisterhood and not just saying we are sisters but actually feeling the bond." Ivy said the group planned to hold workshops and discussion panels in future meetings. story by Emma Vaughn organizations 259
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