By Alyssa Crutcher

Sexual Health Organization and Outreach (SHOO) is an on-campus registered student organization (RSO) that aims to provide comprehensive sexual education and resources and destigmatize conversation relating to sex/sexual health.

President Grace Smolen, a senior public health major, started the organization in March 2021 to create a space where people could learn about sexual health and to destigmatize STDs.

“I was diagnosed with an STD my sophomore year of college and just felt very confused and lost. I didn’t know what to do,” Smolen said. “I wanted to make a space where people could learn more and realize it’s not the end of the world if you have an STD.”

Rivers Nicholas, a sophomore nursing major, joined SHOO because she liked the community, support, positivity and openness it provided, she said. 

Nicholas believes that by giving students resources, education, and a place to talk, they can make informed, confident decisions about how they choose to handle their sexual wellbeing, she said.

While a conversation about sexual health can be hard or embarrassing to start, it’s important to open yourself up in that way, Nicholas said. 

“With all the worries that students have, their sexual health shouldn’t be one of them,” Nicholas said. “It’s common to hear stories about students who have ended up in uncomfortable sexual situations purely because they didn’t feel like they knew enough to say anything.”

Dania Alami, a junior biology major with a minor in medical humanities and vice president of SHOO, joined because she is passionate about women’s health and the benefits of maintaining sexual health, she said. 

“You deserve to understand your body and how it relates to others,” Alami said. “Having someone that you can ask questions or just chat about sex with is a beautiful thing that holds exponential benefits to both your mental and physical well-being.

College students are among the largest population of people who get STDs in the United States, Smolen said. She believes it’s necessary to set a tone to destigmatize STDs so students with one don’t feel so alone. 

The RSO often hosts events, posts informational content on social media (@uarkshoo), provides contraceptives and makes bills to instill these practices into the core of the U of A campus.

“The amount of misinformation and stigma surrounding one of the natural experiences in life is ridiculous,” Nicholas said. “I love that this organization is doing what it can to change that.”

As the future president of SHOO, Nicholas said she is excited to see more diversity in their involvement and extend resources to members of the community outside of campus. She wants to make sure every person on campus has the chance to get the information and resources they need.

“Nothing feels better than leaving an event or presentation and knowing that almost everyone — if not everyone — in the room will have learned something,” Nicholas said. “An organization that brings real benefit to everyone involved provides so much joy and truly gives me something to look forward to.”

After she graduates, Smolen wants to go into the STD field to study and teach others about sexual health professionally. She is working toward her masters in epidemiology, she said. 

“I’m really passionate about it because of my own experience with an STD,” Smolen said. “It’s so normal and you’re not an outcast if you have one. I think that’s really what I want to get across to people.”

Nicholas said she plans to pursue a career in gynecology and Alami hopes to get accepted into medical school so she can pursue a career in women’s health, she said. 

“If our education system is going to continue to fail the next generations, then I am going to do what I can to make sure that I don’t,” Nicholas said.

It feels good to be a resource that is needed and used among so many different people across campus, Alami said. The executive board of SHOO has seen first-hand how a lack of sexual health can impact a student. 

“I am honored to be able to normalize sexual health and get rid of the “tabooness” that is stigmatized with it,” Alami said. “I am grateful to see the impact that SHOO has on campus and to know that I contributed to the work that SHOO is doing.”