By Madison Rohn, Editor
On Wednesday, McKendree University held its first Mental Health Matters Fair. The Hett lobby was lined with tables run by psychology students and club members, Counseling and Health services, local counseling services and other organizations. Each table contained information and advice on different mental health topics and coping mechanisms, including meditation, sleep, breathing and journaling. In addition to the tables, there was a meditation station where students could sit and relax.
During the fair, I spoke with Breanna Sampo, a senior psychology major and the president of Psychology club, about the importance of promoting mental health. She said, “A lot of students are struggling and they don’t even know how they’re struggling or what to do with it. So by promoting mental health and giving students education, it gives control and tools for self-care, which can then increase their overall well-being and academic success, increasing their life satisfaction.”
When asked if McKendree as a university should do more to promote mental health, Breanna said, “I think as a university, education’s super important, and so it would be really nice if they were able to put up more educational posters, or little pop-up events because, like, this fair is super great. I hope they continue to do it every semester. But it would be really nice to also have smaller ones too.”
Students attending the fair were given a passport to mark the tables they visited, which they could turn in at the end of the fair to enter in a raffle to win a gift basket. Also, students were given a bag to hold the resources and goodies they collected, such as tea bags, breathing sticks, informational handouts, granola bars and fidget objects.
One piece of advice Breanna would give students about taking care of their mental health is the importance of self-awareness. “ I think the biggest thing is recognizing when you’re struggling or that it’s okay to reach out. So I just encourage students to trust that people care about them.”
Additionally, I talked with Mia Wylie, who worked at the fair and is a sophomore psychology major who does public relations for Psychology club. She mentioned similarities between the involvement fair and the mental health fair and said, “I think it definitely works as a way to promote multiple organizations at once, multiple ideas at once. And I think the format just really works, and that’s why it’s expanded beyond the involvement fair into, like, the mental health fair.”
Mia also expressed that the fair is beneficial in showing students what services are available to help them. She said, “at least presenting [students] with the options is really important because some people just aren’t aware of the options they have in general.”
To get another perspective, I talked to Anna Warkel, a sophomore sports management major on the bowling team, who attended the fair with her Honors American Politics class. She told me that she learned new ways to journal, took the “What Color are You in a Relationship” quiz, and learned more facts about sleep.
Anna described the fair as “a way to learn about mental health in, like, a more fun way. … I feel like when people say ‘mental health,’ it’s kind of a dimming topic, but … they made it fun with candy and, like, colorful posters and fun ways to talk about it.” She expressed positive feelings about the fair, although she wished the fair was advertised more around campus. When asked if McKendree could benefit from doing more events like the mental health fair, she said, “I think they’re fun and, like, the whole passport thing I think is such a fun idea, and I think if you told more people about it, more people would come and benefit from it. But I did like it.”
Overall, the Mental Health Matters Fair gave students the opportunity to learn about various aspects of their mental health and resources available to them on and around campus. This one was the first mental health fair at McKendree, and it may lead to more in the future.
