**As I conduct this study, some plans may be subject to change**
Introduction: Durham Academy’s mission is threefold—to teach students how to be moral, happy, and productive. As a student myself, I can attest that we are constantly given opportunities to develop our productivity and explore/define good morals. But throughout all these opportunities, I can often find myself struggling with the “happy” aspect of our mission, one challenge I’m sure many fellow peers relate to. This is where the idea for this study was born. I will look at the challenges we as DA students face that can be detrimental to our wellbeing, take a deep dive into studies conducted at other universities that focus on the biological and psychological science behind wellness, and apply my findings to the challenges I identified at the beginning of the study. In this way, I can learn about the scientific benefits of a holistic approach to wellbeing, while simultaneously making a positive impact in my community.
These are my driving questions:
General Topic: What role do our immediate surroundings play in affecting our mental health? What are distortions and how do we overcome them? How does the role of breathing and the breath affect wellbeing? How has the world of medicine been shifting towards preventative/holistic practices?
Greater Application: How can exploring and understanding the science behind wellbeing affect my own habits and wellness? How can I apply this knowledge in order to create a positive impact on the wellbeing of those around me? What are other universities or organizations doing to support the wellbeing of their students/staff? Would these practices be effective in our DA campus?
Preliminary Schedule:
| Month(s) | Unit | Plan |
| January | Exploring and Identifying Common Factors Detrimental to Students’ Wellbeing | Examine results of school wide wellness surveyConduct interviews of students currently at DASend out my own school wide survey if possibleTalk with the wellness committee to see what problems they are facingGoal: Identify 1-2 major factors/issues I want to focus my research on (ie. overload of schoolwork, social strains during the school day, lack of sleep, etc) |
| February – March | Background Research: Biological Benefits of Holistic Medicine & Psychology of Meditation, Affirmation, and Mindfulness | Week 1: What is a Holistic Approach to Wellbeing?Resources: National Library of Medicine, Stanford Publications Through the WELL for Life programWeek 2-3: The Science of Wellbeing Course at Yale— Meditation & GratitudeWeek 4-5: Students and WellbeingSummarize the results of my own school wide surveyExplore the steps that Duke and UNC are taking for their students wellbeingPerhaps even interview students to gain a deeper understanding |
| March-April | Focused Research: Applying Background Research and Conducting Further Research to Strengthen My Knowledge of Identified Factor | Part 1 Objective: Talk to librarians and content advisor to help me organize my research in accordance to my identified factorIf necessary, locate further research about the identified factorPart 2 Objective: Brainstorm Possible Applications, Discuss Findings with my Content AdvisorIdentify 3 Possible Ideas that DA can implement in order to combat the negative impact of the identified factorPart 3 Objective: Experiment and Research Benefits of These IdeasConduct mini-research by implementing these solutions in my own life and keeping a research journal of my findingsTalk to librarians in order to locate studies supporting the benefits of my proposed solutions |
| April-May | Presenting My Proposed Applications | Decide on 1-2 of these possible solution most supported by research and experimentationWork to create my presentation that details:My identified factorProcess for arriving at the possible solution (summarize findings from my background research)Possible SolutionFurther Studies Supporting This Solution/My Own Experimentation |
Activities & Resources:
- Frequent meetings with … in order to track my progress with identifying common stress factors, discuss the findings of my outside research, and brainstorm possible solutions.
- Independent research that focuses on the actions taken by other universities to better their students wellness as well as studies about different habits that contribute to good wellbeing
- Publications through Stanford through their WELL program:
- https://med.stanford.edu/wellforlife/research/updates1.html
- National Library of Medicine
- Resources found through EBSCO and other library databases
- Yale Course (free) on the science of wellbeing:
- https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being *
- Mrs. Danser’s school wide survey results
- Interviews with members of the wellness committee, other students, and possibly college students
- Weekly blog post that updates readers on my research findings and applies these findings to my identified stress factor
- Conduct my own school wide survey
Final Project:
My final project will come in the form of a presentation to the wellness committee that focuses on the specific stress factor I decide to research. Specifically, I will detail the reason why I chose to conduct this study, how I identified a common stress factor in the DA community, a summary of my background research findings, my proposed solution, my own (self) experimentation, and further studies supporting this solution. Perhaps I will have a discussion with the wellness committee in which they provide feedback to my presentation.