Dr. Nicole Noffsinger-Frazier

Wellness Center

For me, belonging means mattering. It means knowing that other people see you for who you are. That you can be authentic and still matter to others. This feeling takes time. It’s closely linked to the idea of flourishing. Flourishing is the presence of positivity, having good connections with others, and having mastery over one’s environment. It’s not a trait—it’s a state or spectrum of well-being that we have to work on daily. Students sometimes feel that mattering is tied to achievement, and that’s a lot of the work we do—trying to help students understand that simply because they are, they are enough.