This past week, The Mental Health Committee at East created a “Give What You Can Wall.” This bulletin board, right outside of the Student Government office, is covered with Post-it notes that have various motivational messages written on them. To show support and get involved, students can also add to the wall with their own Post-it note messages.
The Mental Health Committee consists of SGA officers and representatives, but also students passionate about mental health.
Manar Hadi (‘25), current head of the committee, chose the students involved with it “based on their passions for wellness advocacy. [He] knows some of these students have a passion since they’re leaders in wellness related clubs at East, or have done mental health focused activities outside of school.”
Originally created by student body president, Crystal Yeh (‘24), The Mental Health Committee’s three main goals are “to fight the stigma and normalize asking for help, emphasize the need to not be the perfect student and that your studies do not define you, and reassure that East is a community, not a competition” says Hadi.
The board was intentionally created now.
“As we near the end of the semester, so many students are stressed over their grades and ranks. There’s a lot of activities as well. This is also a time where seasonal depression hits hard for those with it, ” says Hadi.
At the moment, this is the only project the Mental Health Committee is working on. However, there will be another Wellness Day, similar to last years, later in the year.
“Our intentions right now are to focus on the deep root causes of the mental health stigma at East and the competitive environment – using survey results from macro-level surveys administered in previous years, we want to hone in on specific comments and issues. We also want to work with more administrators and East staff to find a common ground,” says Hadi.
Although it may be scary to reach out to teachers and administrators at East, “Ms. Joseph and Mrs. DiStefano are wonderful people who are one email away. A lot of people don’t really know about them, which is one thing I’d like to bring transparency to. Many students live in environments where it’s hard to find resources, you often feel ostracized and shamed if you want to ask your parents. But Ms. Joseph and Mrs. DiStefano are always there” says Hadi.
“At East, we have a really competitive culture when it comes to academics and quite frankly, it’s benefitting no one. With the board, the color committee hopes to be able to create a sense of unity – that we’re all in this together and you’re not alone in feeling lethargic and unmotivated,” says Hadi.
