By Tatsuya Hidano, junior

Many students lay relaxed and surrendered to the comforting pressure on their bodies as the Friends University Casado Campus Center hosted free massage service Wednesday for its students, faculty and staff.

Nearly 60 massage therapy students from Heritage College, a health education school in Wichita, provided 10-minute massages all day on 12 massage tables and chairs.

As many Friends people did, Kara Yuza had one massage in the morning and came back in the afternoon for more.

“A great way to de-stress in the midst of a very chaotic day,” said Yuza, freshman. 

When Sue Lucas, health and wellness coordinator, looked for a student activity idea, she found out that the Heritage students did not mind coming to the Friends campus to provide the service as part of their training.

“It worked out for everybody,” Lucas said. 

The Heritage massage therapy students usually practice on one another, said Casey Ross, a Heritage student. He was happy to participate in the activity on the Friends campus.

It not only gave the Heritage students an opportunity to work their hands on people outside the Heritage campus, but also it allowed them to practice interacting with people, he said.

As some students and staff lined the balcony in the campus center for their free massage, people from both schools were happy, Lucas said. And she saw many easy smiles exiting the massage room. “They were nice,” she said. “And they said, ‘We’ll come back.’”

Lucas is currently working on the next student health activity, “Alcohol Jeopardy.” It will raise awareness about alcohol issues. With free food and many items, including an 8GB iPod Nano and a 4GB Flip Ultra Camcorder, to give away, this game event will start at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 25 in the Casado Atrium.