MENTAL WELLNESS COMMISSIONER

Julie Seeger

Hello Vickies! I hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are reading this from. My second year leading the VUSAC Mental Wellness Commission is reaching an end, and with that comes feelings of both excitement and bittersweetness. My goal at the beginning of this year was to create “signature” events for our commission, as well as branch out and continue to evolve as Victoria College and the unique circumstances students face change. Here is a list of events, initiatives, and plans we have for the remainder of the term.

Journaling for Mental Health Workshop

I have been an avid user of the bullet journal since 2015, and I have found it immensely helpful for tracking habits and retaining structure. As I have begun facing more difficulties in my mental health, I have found having an outlet immensely helpful. On March 2nd, our commission will be hosting a journaling workshop, complete with a journal kit for each participant, helpful prompts, and snacks.

Weekly Wellness Tea

Our team is always inspired by VOCA (shoutout to the amazing team leading an elite commission!) and their programming, especially their traditional weekly pancakes. We have begun a weekly wellness tea party and are hoping that this will become a part of our programming for years to come. We have experimented with different locations, snacks, and are looking forward to implementing creative programming each week. Please join us on Thursdays from 3-4 in Wymillwood!

Mental Health Training

As our commission is named Mental Wellness, we are hoping to develop a more nuanced understanding of mental health and become more prepared to assist with situations involving mental health. I have begun seeking out training for suicide prevention, and am hoping to find more training for our team to undergo.

Victoria College Mental Health Survey

Our commission’s mission is split between programming and advocacy. While we are aware of multiple issues that harm student mental health at Victoria College, such as UMLAP policies and Burwash Dining Hall’s portion control, we know that there are many issues that we may not be aware of. We will be conducting a mental health survey closer to the end of the term to identify these issues, which hopefully next year’s commission can begin addressing.

Plant Giveaway

My favourite event, our bi-annual plant giveaway, will be occurring in March. We have had tremendous success with this event in the past, and are hoping to tie in helpful resources and promote our survey and other programming during the event.

Thank you for electing me to this position, and continuing to support the work that our commission does. Please do not hesitate to reach out over email at mentalwellness@vusac.ca if you want to get in touch!

Julie