Student Wellbeing Awareness Week: “We want to teach students in an accessible way how to stay mentally healthy and resilient”

The genesis of Student Wellbeing Awareness Week

Rosemarijn: “When I joined the board of TiGgeAk (umbrella association of all associations linked to Tilburg University), I was charged with organizing the Awareness Week. Even though I thought mental health is an interesting subject, I didn’t really know where to start. I contacted Zarrea Plaisier, the university’s Student Wellbeing Officer. She alerted me to Fractie SAM’s Student Wellbeing Day. Collaborating with Amber (President of student party Fractie SAM) was the obvious next step.” 

Amber: “SAM has organized Wellbeing Day several times already. On this Day, we offer workshops and talks on the theme of wellbeing. We wanted to expand it to a week, because we noticed that students often only had time for short program components before they had to rush off to class again. By spreading the activities over a week, we hope to welcome more students.”

Student wellbeing

Many students in today’s self-centered and achievement-oriented world feel their mental wellbeing is under pressure. Amber and Rosemarijn have noticed this, too. Amber: “I see all around me that many students experience stress. Everyone knows it is important to regularly take some down time, but that’s easier said than done in such a hectic period in your life. Students pay too little attention to their mental wellbeing and symptoms can arise.” 

Rosemarijn: “Students struggle a lot with such questions as: ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What do I want in life?’ As a student, it is hard to navigate a world full of opportunities and distractions. Social safety continues to be a relevant and urgent subject with the university. Everyone should feel safe and feel they belong on campus. However, many students do not feel part of the campus community. You sense that when recruiting new board members. Many boards meet with great reluctance because students don’t feel they belong. If people don’t feel a sense of responsibility towards a community, they are less likely to feel responsible for protecting the social safety within that community.”

Great variety of workshops and talks

And that is exactly why Student Wellbeing Awareness Week was established. Amber: “We want to offer students accessible ways to learn how to stay mentally healthy and resilient. Often busy schedules are the reason that students don’t get around to paying attention to mental health. The workshops and talks offer students the opportunity to spend a little more time on the subject than they would normally have done.” Rosemarijn: “We didn’t just organize informative talks, but also practical workshops where you get useful tips that you can apply immediately in your day-to-day life, for instance, a breathing or sleep workshop or a class in intuitive painting. The only thing students need to do is sign up – and turn up.”

The two organizers themselves do not have to think long when asked what activity they would recommend to other students. Rosemarijn: “I am looking forward to the grief therapy workshop, taught by Heidi van den Hout. She is an expert in disenfranchised grief. That is grief that goes unacknowledged, such as study delay or the end of a friendship.”

Amber: “I would recommend intuitive painting: it helps you to let go and to be occupied with something in an open-ended way. I am also curious about the workshop on financial stress. It will be taught by someone from Rabobank. And I’m interested in the sleep workshop: what can you do during the day that will help you sleep better at night?”

I mainly hope that students become aware of the importance of mental health

Positive impact

The two students hope this Awareness Week will have a positive impact on the mental wellbeing of the participating students. Amber: “I mainly hope that students become aware of the importance of mental health. You hear it a lot that people tend to forget about themselves because they are so busy looking out for others. By participating in one or more activities, students may be able to make small changes to their daily routine.”

Rosemarijn: “Students who are interested in subjects like spirituality may be reluctant to take the initiative to look for a workshop on the subject, for financial reasons or simply because they find it a little intimidating. This Awareness Week may help lower the threshold for them to participate in different workshops. I hope that, after participation, these students follow up on maintaining their mental wellbeing.”

Next edition?

The two organizers don’t know whether there will be another Student Wellbeing Awareness Week next year. They clearly have some thoughts and ideas, though. Rosemarijn: “I think it would be nice to collaborate with more student associations next year so that they, too, can provide their particular input. I think it is important to involve multiple stakeholders. Student wellbeing concerns us all.”

Date of publication: 9 February 2024