People walking past the Myatt Center for Diversity and Inclusion on Thursday evening heard music streaming out and Diversity Peer Educators dancing. This was all done to reel people in to participate in the Myatt Center’s World Gratitude Day celebration.
The World Gratitude Day event was planned by Diversity Peer Educators (DPEs) Riya Sood and Ja’nya Hill.
Hill, a junior forensic psychology major, said, “Riya and I just threw out some ideas of what kind of events we could do for this month. And Riya had the idea of celebrating World Gratitude Day today.”
Both Hill and Sood, graduate students studying public health, noticed World Gratitude Day is not a popular holiday, so they wanted to have the event surrounding it.
There was an interactive presentation made by Hill and Sood that kept the audience engaged.
Sood read a quote from American writer Melody Beattie, who said, “Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
As the event continued, they went over the meaning of World Gratitude Day, explaining how it is a day for people from diverse backgrounds to come together and express thankfulness for the positive aspects of life.
Hill and Sood also went over how gratitude can be seen and incorporated through diversity and inclusion by acknowledging and celebrating everyone’s differences in order to create a more inclusive and empathetic environment, according to the presentation.
There were a couple of mini-games and interactive components where the audience was asked different questions, such as “What made you smile this week?” or “If gratitude were a color, a smell, or a sound, what would it be, and why?”
A chunk of time was carved out for audience members to discuss how they show gratitude to others, and how they receive gratitude from others. Some mentioned doing acts of service, hanging out and spending quality time with friends and giving gifts to their loved ones, among many others in both categories of giving and receiving gratitude.
If you are interested in visiting more events hosted by the Myatt Center, check out their events on their Charger Connection page, along with their Instagram page @unewhaven_mcdi.
