Students talk about mental health awareness at Hood College

By Braden Weinel

Students in the Seminar for Academic Success class met with their peer mentors on Zoom the week of Sept. 15 to discuss time-management and mental health.

Destiny Davis, the peer mentor for this semester’s Seminar for Academic Success class, had a scheduled one-on-one meeting with each student in the class. The professor of the class, Gretchen Nonemaker, said that these checkpoint meetings are designed to remind students that they have support from their professors and peers.

During the meetings, Davis asked each student how they were adapting to college. She also questioned students about their stress level and mental health to make sure each student was dealing with school and quarantine in a safe and productive way.

National Mental Illness Awareness week this year starts on Sunday, Oct. 4. At Hood there will be mental health screening throughout the week.

The Seminar for Academic Success provides students with an opportunity to learn and use crucial skills that will help create success in school and in life.

“The central premise, therefore, is that success occurs from the inside out,” Nonemaker said. “Students are empowered to develop inner qualities that help them maximize their potential.”

How one manages their time directly affects their stress level, especially in college. Nonemaker posts assignments that let students share their calendar and agenda systems with the class through discussion boards.  

The class also focuses on organization, life roles, attitude, and confidence. 

Aden Sievert, a first-year student in the class said, “I have learned to create better opportunities for myself to succeed in every part of my life.”

The students’ second checkpoint meeting this semester won’t be with Davis but with Nonemaker, for a one-on-one meeting between professor and student.