On Tuesday, Mar. 19 at 5:30 p.m., Wilfrid Laurier University’s Psych Society hosted their fourth annual “Minds on Mental Health” event in the Paul Martin Centre. This networking opportunity helped students explore possible career paths by meeting and mingling with professionals in the field.
Students were seated with about five others — a great opportunity to get to know their fellow students in the psychology program. In a speed-dating fashion, a professional would come to their table and receive questions for 10-12 minutes before rotating to the next. Afterwards, came catered food and a period of mingling.
Not only does this event help students with their own mental health, through interacting with other like-minded people, but it expands their horizons by showing them possible ways they can work with mental health in the future.
However, mental health isn’t just encountered by those in professions requiring a psychology degree. Jill Phelps, vice-president of the Laurier Psych Society, noted that they “[had] a lot of therapists [come], but we also [had] a physician — people in different careers, but they can all relate to mental health.”
Phelps spoke passionately about her first experience with the event.
The Laurier Psych Society has been an active participant in advancing mental health awareness. They hosted a “Bell Let’s Talk” bake sale earlier this year. Donations went straight to the Bell Let’s Talk organization.
“It was one of my favourite things I did that year; I got to connect with other people who are interested in psychology. I got to meet some professionals who had some really cool jobs, so I knew that, when I became an executive on the team, I would want to really put some time into this event and make it really good,” Phelps said.
Phelps also discussed the benefits that students will gain from attending: “You’ll come away from it meeting a lot of really cool professionals, but also connecting with other students,” she said.
The Minds on Mental Health event has been getting bigger each year. As it is the Laurier Psych Society’s main event, they take pride in it and want to ensure that it continues to expand. They seek to give students ideas of what they can do with psychology, but also insight into the broader career options that interact with mental health management.
For example, students can come away from the Minds on Mental Health event with more opportunities than they had going in. They can also leave with a bigger community of like-minded students who all feel more confident and clear about their choices going forward.
It is surprising how many careers intersect with mental health. It is important for students to see that there are many avenues they can follow if they want to advocate these issues.
“There was a lawyer [who had attended the event], so that was really cool. I never really thought about how law can correspond with mental health advocacy,” Phelps said.
The Laurier Psych Society has been an active participant in advancing mental health awareness. They hosted a “Bell Let’s Talk” bake sale earlier this year. Donations went straight to the Bell Let’s Talk organization.
The event is catered to Psych students mainly, but is open to everybody who would like to attend. Regardless of what field you are in, it can be a great way to meet other students, learn more about mental health and find out about career options that involve improving others’ lives.
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