The Be You Mental Health campaign is an initiative at the UW that centres the needs of students, highlighting the key messages of taking pride in your progress, being kind to yourself and others, and embracing your authentic self.
Grace Wong Chong, a student project mental health coordinator for Campus Wellness has been with the team from the very start. Chong explains how the initiative originally started in 2018 as an annual campaign known as Thrive, and has since been reconstructed into the Be You Campaign to better resonate with students.
Similarly, Dr. Goldi Gill, the executive director of Campus Wellness, explains how students provided feedback that the original Thrive campaign didn’t truly reflect what was going on in their lives and their reality.“This initiative is about acknowledging where we are on our mental health journeys and embracing the fact that it’s okay not to always feel like we’re excelling,” Gill said. “Be You offers students the space to be authentic, to accept both their strengths and struggles, and to seek support without shame. It’s a reminder that it’s okay to not be okay.” Gill also reminds us that the campaign is year round, with continuous programs and initiatives to support students at any time they need.
The Be You programs that can be found on the university’s wellness programs and student groups site are wide in range and cater to all individuals seeking support. Just a few of the many programs are; the supportive spaces for varsity athletes, spaces for trans and gender diverse students, and a workshop for black students to use poetry to “manage academic pressures, process emotions, and find healing.”
The campaign places an emphasis on embracing individuality, and Melissa Potwarka, the associate director of health promotion at Campus Wellness, explains that the Be You campaign will help bring awareness to the programs and services that Campus Wellness provides. Even more than that, Potwarka explains, “Mental health stigma can create barriers for many of us to seek support. The key messages of Be You are meant to shift current discourses around student mental health that contribute to stigma; to focus on taking pride in your progress, being kind to yourself and others, and embracing your authentic self.”
The launch of the campaign has been focused to the winter term to provide additional support to students as the days are darker and colder. But once again, Chong explains that Be You and mental health is an ongoing focus to provide students with that extra support year-round. Chong states: “We hear from students that they would like mental health promotion to be meaningfully embedded throughout the year.”
The Be You launch event will take place on Feb. 3 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Health Services 1002. Students, staff and faculty are invited to join to hear from campus leaders and student representatives about the campaign, as well as an unveiling of a Be You mosaic.
