Cultivating Wellness in a Pandemic: Virtually Engaging Higher Education Students with Experiential Activities

Abstract

Students in higher education experienced extreme challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and the stress of obtaining a college education during the year between 2020 and 2021. As a result, students’ mental health was impacted, and their coping skills were on trial. In addition, due to COVID-19 safety precautions, many universities have experienced the plight of shifting all classes to an online platform since March of 2020. As a result, higher education educators were faced with the conundrum of effectively teaching students in this virtual learning environment. To cultivate wellness, the authors recommended various experiential activities for higher education educators and discussed how to effectively apply them with students. The objectives of using these activities are to help students regulate their emotions and experiences, alleviate their stress and anxiety, and find new meanings and coping strategies to work through this crisis.