On November 3rd, the One Health Student Association held a communal painting event in the Plaza of Americas at the University of Florida in celebration of One Health Day. Students were encouraged to participate by painting on the canvas and learning more about this special day.

One Health Day is an international celebration of One Health, an integrated approach that stresses interdisciplinary collaboration to obtain better health for all. OHSA wanted to highlight the importance of collaboration in their One Health Day event by asking passing-by students to partake in the painting. What better way to show everyone working together towards a single goal than creating a painting together!

So on One Health Day, the OHSA executive board and their members came together at the Plaza of Americas to begin the painting event. The painting began as a general outline of the world and all of its components that are important to the One Health Approach. The outline depicted a scene Including animals, people, plants, trees, and other aspects of the surrounding environment.

As people were passing on the way to their next class, they were encouraged to stop by and contribute. Many took a short break in between classes to fill in a tree or paint a koi fish, and eventually, the painting began to take form. Everyone that participated in painting was from different majors including Health Science, Biomedical Engineering, Art, Nursing, Business, and several more. The painting was a true representation of what the One Health Approach is: a collaborative effort between different disciplines towards the common goal of better health for all.

This event was a fantastic opportunity to talk to fellow students about OHSA and the One Health Center of Excellence at UF. For OHSA, this mini tabling activity was a success, and they were able to inform others of their mission. We hope to see many activities like this one in the upcoming spring semester!

By Maya Salomon, Communications Chair for OHSA

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