The Minority Mentorship Program raised awareness and informed students of mental health resources on campus at its “Mental Health with MMP” event on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
The event featured guest speaker Millie Goins, the assistant director of the Student Wellness program at UCA’s Campus Recreation and Wellness.
Senior Aniya Polite said of Goins, “She is really passionate about wellness and our students. She focuses on health, not only physical but emotional, spiritual and social.”
Polite is the team leader of the MMP group “Aniya’s Astros.” She and her group organized the event.
Polite said they wanted to create an event that would better the Black community on campus since it is Black History Month.
“Not only is school hard, but minority people in general, we do not take our mental health seriously enough. Hopefully, this event will open up some minds and hearts to do more talking about how you feel.” Polite said.
According to MMP’s Instagram page, @uca_mmp, 1 in 3 college students experiences significant depression and anxiety. Based on this fact and enrollment at UCA, there are over 3,000 students suffering from anxiety and depression.
As students entered the room, they were able to grab a stress ball and decorate it while they waited for the program to start. Senior Shuntia Hunter said that decorating the stress balls was her favorite part of the program.
“I think that was a great additive to their program because so many of us are stressed about school work as well as life in general. This could help so many people in more ways than one,” Hunter said.
From there, Goins and her student interns Shamal Sullivan, Shivani Patel and Ana Villanueva opened the program with an icebreaker.
Each student was handed a slip of paper with a quote on it. They were then instructed to turn to the person next to them and start a conversation with the quote.
One of the quotes read, “If you need a friend, I’m always here for you.” The quotes encouraged students to start a conversation about mental health and get to know who was sitting next to them.
After the students fellowshipped and had some conversations about mental health, Sullivan presented students with some tips to stay emotionally healthy, as well as resources on campus they can utilize.
Some of the tips included, “Unplug from phones, social media, and your computer for 10 minutes,” and “Stay on top of your schoolwork.”
Lastly, students were encouraged to ask for help or see a therapist at the counseling center. UCA’s Counseling Center is located on the third floor of the Student Health Clinic and is free to all students. Students are allowed 10 sessions per academic year and can register online to become a client.
