Submitted by Caryn Langstaff, Director of Health, Wellness & Accessibility
Spring/Summer Orientation Day on May 1, 2023, was a great success! SLC was thrilled to welcome more than 600 new students from around the world to our Kingston, Brockville, and Cornwall campuses. Orientation coincided with Mental Health Week, which supported Student Wellness in engaging in a "Well-Being Welcome to SLC." Student Wellness & Accessibility and the Campus Health Centres partnered with keep.meSAFE to provide a warm welcome along with health and well-being resources for our students.
The partnership between Student Wellness & Accessibility and keep.meSAFE provides international students with access to confidential professional counseling with multilingual, culturally sensitive, and gender-inclusive mental health support. keep.meSAFE encourages students to reach out for support at the earliest possible point, using technology to connect those in need to counselors who understand student life. Support is available 24/7/365 through chat and telephone, and students also have access to robust self-help resources through a free mobile app, My SSP. Student Wellness & Accessibility Counsellors continue to offer mental health supports to all students. We are fortunate to have keep.meSAFE available to provide additional resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for international students, as well as WeConnect additional mental health supports for domestic students.
Our teams were so fortunate to welcome a steady stream of students. Highlights included:
- The students were welcomed to our table with some Indian treats, and sweets were all gone as quickly as we offered!
- The team handed out mini goodie bags which had various Student Wellness, CHC, Guard.Me, and keepme.SAFE swag and treats.
- We had staff on hand to available to provide student and lived experience, along with opportunity to speak about the services in Hindi and Punjabi.
- The students downloaded the keep.meSAFE My SSP app and registered themselves in order to enter in a grand prize draw to win gift cards.
"Our Health and Wellness team members did an amazing job of making important connections and destigmatizing mental health as they greeted our new students. Providing familiar context and culturally and linguistically relevant support is instrumental in ensuring students reach out when they need us," said Caryn Langstaff, Director of Health, Wellness & Accessibility, Student Success.
Overall, we received approximately 150 entries for the draw, opened the dialogue about mental health supports, all while having fun and welcoming many new SLC students.
As Mental Health Week reminds us, mental health is just as important as physical health, and we all have a role to play in supporting each other's mental wellness. We encourage all students to take advantage of the mental health resources available to them and to reach out for support if they need it. Together, we can create a community that values mental wellness and promotes a culture of care and support. Learn more at MentalHealthWeek.ca