Fresh Check Day Unites USJ in the Defense of Mental Health

Written by Khang Dang

Fresh Check Day was an event orchestrated by the Wellness Center on October 4.The Wellness Center partnered up with different groups such as Public Safety to organize a mental check-in day for students who may have had a tumultuous first half of the semester.

The event offered booths that pertained to talking about mental health, dismantling stigma, and practicing methods to alleviate stress. The goal of these booths was to emphasize the importance of prioritizing your health first and foremost. Some booths had activities such as writing down notes about your future, what you are living for, and the good things about yourself. Another booth prompted students to write about insecurities and later throw their notes away. As a reward for visiting these booths, students were entered into a raffle to win prizes.

Many of the booths were very informative when it came to their activities. There were booths that informed students about how suicide is something that many people think about, and emphasized that these thoughts should not be holed up. One booth talked about how 1/10 individuals attempt suicide, while 9/10 individuals have the opportunity to help these students out of it. Another booth explained that stigma can be enough to stop someone from speaking what is truly on their mind. There were other symbolic booths such as writing your aspirations upon a paper leaf and attaching them to a tree on a poster, as a means to show its interconnected nature.

The purpose of a lot of the activities was not only to give students a check on their mental health, but also to talk about their future and give them insight into what their aspirations might be. The intention of Fresh Check Day is to give students hope, and let them know that they are not alone. Each of these booths reinforced the idea that USJ is more than just a university, but is a community that binds us together.

Featured Image: Samuel Turgeon