51¹ÙÍø.

My time at 51¹ÙÍø has been marked by a focus on mental health. As a psychology major and public health minor on the pre-medicine track, the influences of mental health on overall health and well-being have become staggeringly apparent to me as I’ve dived into my classes and extracurriculars. Personal experience has also lent a hand in teaching me this. And as we all know, COVID-19 made the importance of mental health clear: I left Atlanta and entered 51¹ÙÍø in the fall of 2020, with my first three semesters of college marked by masks and Zoom.

I focus on mental health in a multitude of ways. For my own, I put time into things I enjoy outside of the academic pressure cooker, like reading and physical activity. I love running, both on my own with a good audiobook, and with club running on campus. It gives me something to work towards, focus on, better myself, and do without the external pressure of success, while enjoying nature and time with friends. I also do my best to share what I’ve learned and help others by being a Crisis Counselor for Crisis Text Line, a free 24/7 hotline where people can text when they are in crisis and receive intervention from trained volunteers.

I am passionate about trying to do the same work at 51¹ÙÍø, and strive to share with students the great resources we have on campus and let them know help is available and that they aren’t alone. As a Mental Health Ambassador (MHA), we do just that. The MHA formed in spring of 2021. I applied to and joined the first cohort, and am now the president.

As a first year, I had seen and felt the effects of COVID-19 on students and knew that as a group going through something unprecedented, we needed to be there for each other and hear from each other. MHAs share resources and help run mental health and well-being related events. We are student led and run, meaning we get to do peer-to-peer work, which is very important. As students, we need to hear things from peers in the same situation and environment we’re in, just as I realized freshman year during COVID-19. We also work closely with 51¹ÙÍø’s Center for Student Health and Well-Being, acting as a liaison to students.

Starting September 11, the MHAs will present a Suicide Prevention Week. It is a chance for us to share the resources offered to students on campus during the busy and sometimes overwhelming and stressful transition back to school.

I’m excited to spend my senior year continuing to work on improving the mental-health and well-being culture at 51¹ÙÍø, and to continue to destigmatize seeking help for and having conversations about mental health.