By Karen Messer
For The Diamondback
The University of Maryland’s Mental Health Coalition organized a series of events last week to raise awareness about mental health and promote on-campus resources for students.
The events, which ran from Oct. 6 to Oct 12, coincided with National Mental Health Awareness Week. The eighth annual Self-Care Fair on McKeldin Mall headlined the weeklong activities on Thursday.
The Mental Health Coalition is led by this university’s Counseling Center staff and provides mental health support on campus, according to the Counseling Center’s website.
The organization held other mental health-related events throughout the week, including a meditation session, a seed planting and decorating activity and a mental health screening where experts evaluated students’ psychological needs.
The coalition also offered a Mental Health First Aid certification course to help individuals recognize signs of mental health challenges.
On Thursday the group hosted a Self-Care Fair, which celebrated mental health awareness on campus through carnival games, self-care activities and information about mental health resources at this university.
“We are here to help people … and make them feel heard,” said Miles Goyal, who oversaw the University Help Center’s booth at the Self-Care Fair. “We are here to listen.”
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Before joining the Help Center, Goyal, the organization’s administrative director, said he used the Counseling Center and Help Center as a resource for mental health. The organizations helped guide his emotions and introduced him to therapy resources on campus, the senior psychology major said.
The Self-Care Fair was a great opportunity to advertise this university’s Help Center and highlight its importance for students, he explained. Many students often forget that the Help Center is available to support them, Goyal added.
Katie Pham ran a booth for the Petal Project — an organization that offers support for survivors of relationship abuse — at the self-care fair. Pham, the organization’s co-director of community, said she joined the group to raise awareness about relationship abuse and share her personal experiences.
“They’re not alone,” the senior cell biology and genetics major said. “They can get through it — no matter how hard it is.”
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During Thursday’s event, Pham and other Petal Project members encouraged students to write positive affirmations on a bulletin board to support the community and suggest ways to reduce stress.
Gabriela Paredes, a sophomore nutrition and food science major, said she attended the fair after hearing about it from friends and seeing people gather on McKeldin Mall.
Paredes was surprised by the diversity of the mental health resources on campus, she said, emphasizing that there were resources for underrepresented communities on campus.
Haley Pinggoy, a sophomore public health science and microbiology major, visited the fair with Paredes and said she was previously unaware that there were additional resources available than the Counseling Center.
Pinggoy said she prioritizes mental health to avoid “burnout” in college.
“College is tough, there’s a lot of things going on, and I just want to make sure that I’m okay and that I keep myself okay,” she said.
