Journaling Workshop

1 2 2 0 g n p ai am C h l t a e H c i l b u P

J O F R O U M A M R O D E R N A T O R A ' S P O L I N T I O F N V I E W G W O R K S H O P

W O R D S B Y Y O U N S E O J U N G

am Youn SeoJung and I was the moderator for the Public Health Campaign Journaling Workshop held in April 2021. As the moderator, my major role was to play the background I music before the event began, and also to share the slides which were prepared by our speakers and the emcee. Through this, I got a chance to look at how the event was carried out. There were five speakers from different courses – each speaker shared their thoughts and views on journaling.

Our journaling workshop was divided into a few sessions. It started off with the audiences presenting their thoughts regarding journaling on Jamboard, a digital interactive whiteboard. We were happy to have received many different responses. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking about journaling? Do you think it is a difficult and tedious process? In fact, no, you can start right away whenever you want to.

The speakers then proceeded to explain what journaling is and various ways to start journaling. The purpose of this is to spread awareness to the audience that journaling does not necessarily have to be done in great detail; just briefly would do. In my opinion, journaling is indeed beneficial to everyone as it helps to improve our own mental health through penning down our emotions and feelings.

The speakers also shared their insights and explained various types of journaling. This made me view journaling from a different perspective – there are in fact different ways to express my emotions, not just through words. Some approachable ways include using mobile applications or making use of the simple things we have with us in everyday life, such as papers and pens.

Not forgetting our speakers also highly encouraged us to make journaling a habit. They emphasized that it is very important to not view journaling as being stressful, but rather as a special personal time to focus on your thoughts and emotions. Journaling doesn’t take a few hours; a short 10-minute session is sufficient in helping you to calm your mind.

I am happy to see all our speakers being very friendly and our participants being interactive as well. Towards the end of the workshop, we exchanged feedback among one another in order to help us improve on our presentation for the best outcome. I am grateful to have received much support and feedback from our participants; likewise all our participants were very happy with the compliments that were given to them.

In conclusion, journaling can help to improve our mental health, as it allows us to arrange and pen down our thoughts at any time and this takes only a few minutes. Moreover, with the current COVID-19 situation whereby us students might feel lonely and helpless at times, now is the best time to start journaling as you would be happy to find how journaling calms your mind and soothes your soul. Remember, it is never too late to start!