Being a part of an extracurricular (or multiple) in college can be one of the most amazing experiences a student can have. It allows you to find your niche and possibly your best friend, offers potential leadership experiences, and gives you the chance to make an impact on campus.
You can often find Cabrini students at various club events, meetings, and fundraisers. The 50+ clubs and organizations on campus try to support each other and show up to each other’s events and fundraisers and often share posts for each other on their social media platforms.
There is more than one club I love on campus, but one of my absolute favorites is the Body Image Coalition, or BIC for short. It is a club at Cabrini that has a sole purpose of raising awareness about struggles with body image, eating disorders, and promotes body positivity of all genders through its meetings, social media campaigns, events and fundraisers that it holds throughout the year.
My favorite thing about the club is that it is open to everyone and is inclusive. In meetings that I have attended, the executive staff has opened the floor to have discussions on how to love yourself and your body as well as other struggles any club member may having. It is a safe space to learn to love yourself and is wonderful to watch others grow through being a part of the club.
Struggles with body image can often be seen as primarily a woman’s issue, but the Body Image Coalition strives to raise awareness that men struggle with their own body images and is attempting to include men more in their events and are open to hearing about any and all experiences.
Another reason I love the Body Image Coalition is their t-shirts. It is a plain white t-shirt that has the word ‘beautiful’ on it, but there is a twist. The word is spelled “bea(YOU)tiful” to show that every individual is beautiful no matter what body shape, race, etc. The club will often host decorating parties where students can come and get a shirt and decorate it the way they want or they can leave it plain. They do this to showcase that everyone is unique and it also adds to the beauty of the club.
Any Cabrini student is welcome to join at any point during the academic year. The coalition can also be found at Cabrini’s fall and spring Involvement Fairs. I highly encourage students to be a part of this club, it is a great experience and you will have the option to grow and help others do the same.