Students sip, learn and play with Mocktails and Trivia

The rate of alcohol use among students is notably high. According to the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, 35.6 per cent of students in Grades 7 to 12 reported using alcohol in 2023. The Umbrella Project hopes to help students promote healthier choices.

“I have family members who deal with mental health issues, like my grandmother, who has depression. I even deal with a bit of anxiety myself,” said Sera Lolli, a former student at Algonquin College and a winner of the “Kahoot” game that took place at the Umbrella Project Mocktails and Trivia event.

The AC Umbrella Project is funded by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development’s Mental Health Innovation Fund, which focuses on increasing awareness, providing education and building a healthy campus community.

Lolli’s journey helping friends who are dealing with mental health and addiction issues has equipped her with the knowledge needed to win the game.

The winners chose their prize: either a cap and an Algonquin T-shirt or a well-designed food container.

There were scientific questions included in the game like, “What is the area of the brain that deals with memory?” which made it challenging for Tom Truong, a first-year paralegal student, who has no experience with alcohol or drugs.

“I started out pretty well with the true or false questions, but then I started failing because they were asking about blood alcohol, which I have no idea about,” Truong said.

Truong believes that consuming alcohol is a waste of money and destructive to health. He said that the motives behind substance use may be related to culture or stress relief. He blogs and draws as productive ways to ease his stress.

In addition to trivia, the event featured a mocktail workshop and offered three drink recipes: Pineapple Coconut Frizz, Magic Colour, Changing Lemonade and Berry Basil Smash.

Students could use these recipes or invent one from their imagination.

“I feel like a scientist in a lab. I tried to mix many ingredients at once but it didn’t taste good,” said Sophie Brown, a business management student.

Mocktails and Trivia was the final event in the four-part series for National Addiction Awareness Week.