Students’ mental health is ever prevalent as the semester nears its final few months, and the annual Student Mental Health Conference was held for its eighth year to help spread awareness of the hardships that college students may face and inspire growth despite adversity.
The seminar, held at the Eynon Ballroom, was all student-run and kicked off with refreshments and snacks served before Alison English, graduate coordinator for the Wellness Center at Rowan University, introduced some of the speakers who would be presenting, as well as a survey done in 2021 on college students, which found that 44% recorded symptoms of depression, 37% experienced anxiety, and 15% said they had considered suicide.
“My personal goals here for everybody is for everyone here, is that you all have the opportunity to learn something new, and that it increases your comfort with discussing mental health,” said English. “So even if you know a specific mental health aspect, the opportunity to hear a different perspective from someone else, especially in this case, college students, who we don’t often hear from directly, can be invaluable.”
The event offered three sessions split into three rooms, giving attendees the opportunity to choose which seminar they would like to attend. These sessions included guest student speakers such as Nishok Sakthivel, Hasitha Kakileti, Meredith Brown, Casey Hofacker, Erwin Wambi, Nija Spencer, Molique Wright, Jacqueline Aumenta, Sarah-Grace Coren, Nico Lambert, Colin Webb, and Jocelyn Auerbach Klein. A keynote from Dr. Jeffrey Greeson on his experience and journey with mindfulness and mental health was also held between sessions two and three, as well as a mindfulness meditation hosted by Aiden Kaminski.
Nija Spencer, a senior psychology major at Rowan who presented Leading While Healing: The Resilience of a First-Gen Black Woman, spoke for the first time at a mental health event and hoped that people took away the various struggles that students of color face on Rowan’s campus, as well as first-generation students.
“We overcome a lot, and I hope what they can take away from my presentation today is that despite you being both or you know whatever it is, you have to deal with it, it’s going to be okay,” said Spencer. “There are plenty of resources out there for you to take advantage of, and you don’t have to go through it alone.”
Alyssa Straile, a junior public health major at Rowan and a representative of the Health and Wellness Career Connections Club attending the seminar, valued how the seminar was student-led and identified the kinds of challenges that students face every day.
“I feel like you just connect with students more. It’s kind of equal instead of having some big, powerful person come in,” Straile said. “I feel they’ll relate more and feel more comfortable.”
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