Students keep calm and carry on throughout mental health awareness week

With the new semester starting off strong, students weighed in on the stress of academic success and techniques they use to protect their mental health at Algonquin College.

Throughout the week of Jan. 19 to Jan. 23, the Students’ Association held events to spread awareness for mental health. From a journalling workshop to art therapy and Paws 4 Stress, there were plenty of events available for students to use as a breather.

Ilana Goldfarb, an event programmer for the Students’ Association, hopes events like the journalling workshop can be used to build bridges and erase the stigma that surrounds speaking up.

“We’re hoping to have students make connection with each other and to learn how to express their feelings and emotion through journalling,” Goldfarb said.

“Because a lot of students don’t know how to journal or that’s a way to express emotion, maybe heal and help with depression and anxiety, so it’s just a way to bring awareness and people together,” Goldfarb said.

While not knowing the SA and counselling service was holding a journalling workshop on Jan. 20, many students still had their own ways of keeping up with their mental health and taking a breather when needed.

Jeremy Elliott, a fourth-year construction and engineering student, finds it difficult to balance school with his personal life.

“I’d say school stress is definitely something that I struggle with sometimes. Managing personal life with school and work, managing finances while going to school,” Elliott said, and while he didn’t attend the journalling workshop, he has his own ways of keeping calm.

He also believes the school is trying its best to make it easier for students who would appreciate an extra hand.

“I think they’re doing a pretty good job right now but just keep continuing to give out the resources to students. Push those resources for those who need it. They do a good job at creating resources on Brightspace for everybody to get,” Elliott said.

Elliot Montpellier, a fourth-year construction and engineering student, sees it differently. He’s not being flooded with assignments but there’s intensity that comes with harder work when reaching a higher level of his program.

“The technical material on some of the more advanced classes can be a struggle sometimes but I don’t find the work balance too bad,” Montpellier said.

If he ever needed it, he’d go online to get a better understanding of what’s being asked by his professors.

“I’d say YouTube is my biggest (source). I find when you don’t get everything you want out of a professor, YouTube has a lot of sources that can be super helpful,” Montpellier said.

Montpellier suggests students take note of the ads placed around campus highlight clubs and events.

“So far what I found is there’s a lot of different resources,” Montpellier said.

M Drouin, a first-year interactive media design student, said she has a close support system which helps when scheduling or workloads are too much.

“(I) talk to my family and just making sure I’m taking care of myself,” Drouin said.

Each student has their own ways to cope and the college helps by hosting weekly events providing mental breathers or good times.

“We do a minimal of two events a week for the students, so it’s a lot of events. It just might not be what everyone wants to see and the more feedback we get the better,” Goldfarb said.