By Kurt Masline

The University of Maryland Counseling Center hosted events for Mental Health Awareness Week last week, giving students the opportunity to focus on their mental well-being while connecting with the campus community.

Mental Health Awareness Week is recognized during the first full week of October. Over the course of the week, the UMD Counseling Center gave students opportunities to connect with nature, create and view art and take part in festivities at the Terps Take Care Fair on campus.

Last year’s Mental Health Week events were held virtually with the exception of a socially distanced yoga event held on McKeldin Mall, UMD Counseling Center Psychologist and Coordinator for Outreach and Consultation Services, Allison Asarch said. This year, all but one event was held strictly online.

The biggest event of the week was the Terps Take Care Fair on Friday. The three hour long fair on McKeldin Mall featured multiple student organizations on campus, games, prizes, crafts, activities, a motivational message board and even dogs to pet. 

Julia Depalma, a freshman biology major, was able to get in touch with some of the resources available to students on campus by attending the fair.

“I like how everything is set up,” Depalma said. “And the dogs are super sweet.”

Jennifer Anthony, a freshman economics major, heard about the fair from a friend and through some of the online promotions by the Counseling Center. Anthony said that the fair was a great way for students to become aware of the resources that are available on campus.

“[The fair] made my day, made my week,” Anthony said.

Though the fair was the largest event of the week, the UMD Counseling Center hosted events leading up to the fair.

On Monday October 4, students had the chance to connect with nature through both meditation in the UMD Memorial Chapel Labyrinth and plant decorating outside of McKeldin Library. Asarch said the events were more popular than she expected, and that even after the activities were over, event organizers stayed to talk to students about mental health. 

“We bought enough plants for three hours thinking like ‘Oh, it’d be nice if maybe we could get 100 students per hour’. We were out after an hour,” Asarch said.

On Wednesday October 6, the campus community was invited to a painting event for marginalized students  at the Stamp Student Union. Art from the event will soon be displayed at the Counseling Center, Asarch said.

Thursday, October 7 events focused on decreasing the social stigma surrounding mental health with depression screenings held in the Stamp Student Involvement Suite and a virtual short film showing followed by a panel discussion.

Even after Mental Health Awareness Week ends, there are still ways for students to take care of themselves, with or without going to the Counseling Center, such as talking to peers or attending virtual Wellness Workshops at the Counseling Center, Asarch said.

“Mental Health Awareness Week is a great week to get students thinking about their mental health,” Asarch said, “but it’s only one week, and mental health is something that students should be focusing on way more than one week a year.”