Lifestyle coach and author Sherrell Duncan hosted the “Unlock Your Best Self: Own Your Own Mess and Fix It” event on Oct. 14 at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus.

In honor of mental health screening month, Duncan encouraged attendees to take accountability for their struggles. She led a small group of students and faculty through activities that encouraged self-reflection. She also shared her personal experiences to supplement these activities.

According to Duncan, her talk would allow attendees to make meaningful changes and improve their well-being.

“I’ve experienced firsthand how life can become overwhelming when we don’t address our challenges head-on,” she said. “Taking responsibility for your growth is the first step to truly living a life of purpose and peace.”

Duncan’s goal for this talk was to create an environment where participants left feeling hopeful and motivated to change.

To achieve this, she designed several exercises that facilitated personal reflection. One exercise involved a piece of paper to compare how others perceive them to how they see themselves, which revealed a contrast between inner experiences and what they present to the outside world.

Duncan shared how, despite being on a TV show perceived as a success, she struggled to pay her bills, illustrating the gap between appearance and reality.

She also had attendees share their own experiences, where they took turns giving examples of areas where they could take ownership in their lives.

Andrea Kamta Ngassa, a pre-nursing major and a student life volunteer who helped organize the event, said, “If I believe I can do it, I can always stop the mess.”

Duncan hoped that attendees could take what they learned to make small changes that would improve their lives and also emphasized the importance of progress over perfection.

She said, “It’s not about being perfect—it’s about being honest, accountable, and committed to your personal evolution.”