This past summer, Cecile Wegman ’23 and John Ju ’23 reached out to Lisa Roethling, director of counseling, about getting involved with mental health at Hill with the intention of doing something that positively impacted the community. The result was Students Advocating for Mental Health, a student-led organization with the main goal of promoting well-being across campus, aiming to increase mental health awareness and decrease the stigma surrounding it. The committee also serves as a student voice to the counseling office, connecting it to the needs and concerns of its student body.

Ju explained that SAMH has goals to connect students with the counseling center, making sure that all members of the community have the resources that they need.

“There is a lot of mental health stigma at Hill, and just in general, so we want to make Hill a safe space for students to be able to talk about how they feel and to do something that can actually help our students more,” Wegman said. 

Despite the fact that SAMH is still a relatively new committee, it has already put many plans into place. A poster campaign, centering around mental health, counseling services and well-being, was launched early into the school year to educate students on the topic, and SAMH’s social media serves a similar purpose. Using visuals, the posts aim to make it easy to understand what resources are available in the counseling office. In addition, a newly formed process group with Roethling will be held every Thursday, serving as a safe space for students to talk about what they might be feeling.

SAMH has also planned many events for the future, including family nights, which will allow students to further connect with the people in their flock and dorm.

 “We’ll have these student-led events where, preferably, the prefects will lead conversations, just to talk about mental health and make sure they do activities that sort of promote being part of a community and foster positivity,” Ju explained. The events are designed as a stress reliever for students who are coping with the new COVID restrictions as well as the 6th form, who are in the midst of the college application process. Another event being put into place is a song lyric competition between dorms. The winners of the competition will receive prizes of a modified dress down day and a free food order of their choice. 

According to Roethling, “Each month, there will be a focus on a similar activity that highlights a different message. For example, this month is grit and gratitude, and then every month there’ll be a different theme.” 

For students interested in getting involved with the committee, Ju said that, while SAMH plans to keep its size small, there will still be applications for certain positions within the group and those interested are always welcome to participate in a SAMH event.