AIS Individual Portfolio
Sharon Olajide
For my individual portfolio, I chose Health and Wellbeing with a focus on Mental Health. I chose this theme because people always talk about college ruining the mental health of students, and I wanted to know more about why? and how campus' were helping students in need of mental health services. I was also interested to see how the first semester of college would affect my own and my peers mental health.
Things I did
In October, I went on a retreat to the HEB foundation center. During this retreat, we were able to get out of the city and spend time outside in nature. The picture on the left is the "Blue Hole", which is a spring about 15 minutes from the camp. The spring was very cold, and uncomfortable to swim in at first, but the more time spent in it, the more I felt relaxed. Swimming in cold water has actually been proven to reduce stress overtime because your body is having to get used to the temperature of the water. Then, on the right is a picture of the view at the top of a mountain we hiked up. This hike was very challenging because all we had to climb up were our hands and feet, it was about 45 minutes long, but was worth it once we got to the top and were able to watch the sunrise.
On October 24th, the Student Union was hosting an event for Mental Health Day. There were a few different tables touching on various mental health topics. The one I went to was by the Mental Health Team, and they were basically talking about how they wanted students to be more aware of mental health, and ending the stigma behind mental health so that students are not afraid to confide in people about it. They also had a board, where you could write a nice, little note of encouragement for other students to see. I didn't get a picture, but Health and Wellbeing services also had a table at this event. They provided fliers with a barcode to an app called the "My Student Support Program", which gave students free access to 24/7 mental health and wellbeing support.
Although doing nails isn’t seen as a stress reliever, it has been for me. I learned how to do my own nails before coming to college so that I wouldn't have to pay at the nail salon. But being here, I have found that doing my nails has been a way for me to de-stress from my workload, and relax because I am able to concentrate on something I actually enjoy while listening to music or watching a comfort show.
When I went home in October, I met up with a few of my friends and we decided to paint on canvas. Similar, to painting my nails, this was a great activity that created a very calm environment because everyone was focused on their own painting. It also helped all of us to distress and take a break from talking about school, and other things on our plate.
Annotated Bibliography
Before this project, I didn't know much about the mental health recourses on campus, and even how much other students cared about spreading awareness. Choosing this topic has been very informing, and really opened my eyes to how differently college affects students mental health. Some students are able to thrive in this environment, and some are not, which is okay. Especially, when their are recourses on campus to help you if you're struggling. I'm glad I was able to see how I managed my mental health over the course of the past few months, and how some of my peers have as well.
Two tools that would have made me more successful in accomplishing my goals would would be time management and motivation because I tend procrastinate, and when I do I'm left stressing out at the last minute about whatever I need to do. Also, when something is difficult it kills my motivation to start it, which pushes me to procrastinate as well.
I wasn't able to join a club this semester because of my schedule, but next semester I am going to try and be more involved in the Active Minds Club. Which is an organization on campus focused on spreading more awareness about mental health to students.
