This semester, campus administrators, departments and organizations have renewed efforts to provide effective mental health resources to students. While NC State provides many resources, locating and utilizing the right ones is not always easy. Here are inroads to building community and finding support on campus.
Campus community centers
The Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity houses four community centers, providing intentional and welcoming spaces to students: the African American Cultural Center, Multicultural Student Affairs, the Women’s Center and the GLBT Center.
While each of these centers has a different focus, their ultimate goal is to support students. The centers provide programming and resources to students from social events to educational workshops.
A vital community center resource is the space itself. Dave Johnson, the interim director of Multicultural Student Affairs, said one of the first steps to making use of the community centers is just being in the space.
“Just stop in and listen,” Johnson said. “You don’t have to say anything. You can just say hello, and eventually you may feel comfortable having a conversation with somebody. Sometimes just being around folks [makes] you feel that you belong. That can help you break down that barrier, give that sense of belonging.”
Mak Rink, a fourth-year studying communication and vice president of The Movement Peer Educators, which educates on issues of interpersonal violence, similarly encouraged students to take advantage of the Women’s Center; not just for the programming, but for the quiet space to do homework in comfy chairs.
“I think there’s a huge misconception that when you enter these spaces, you automatically have to dump, and that’s not the case at all,” Rink said. “No one is going to pressure you in these spaces to share your story. If you’re here, that’s a big enough step, and we recognize that. … Anyone’s welcome, and we want to emphasize that.”
All centers are open to the student body Monday through Friday during working hours. If center staff don’t have the right resources to help, they are experts at finding the people that do.
“If we’re not the right place, we can point you in the right direction,” Johnson said. “I don’t know financial aid, and I don’t know housing, but I know people that do. Sometimes we’re that liaison to other departments across campus [when] students don’t know where to go or how to get there or who to talk to.”
The Counseling Center provides extensive mental health support, providing a step-by-step guide for getting started with their resources. That said, it can be intimidating to go through the process of making an appointment with a counselor. Recognizing this, the Counseling Center provides Let’s Talk drop-in spaces in several locations across campus where students can meet with counselors for free without an appointment.
These sessions take place throughout the week at each of the four community centers as well as online through the Office of International services, allowing students to seek support in settings they may already feel comfortable in.
“If you go to one of the drop-in spaces and you can say hello to the counselor that’s there, maybe that’s step one,” said Monica Osburn, executive director of the Counseling Center and Prevention Services. “Maybe step two is just getting to know them before you consider entering into a therapy relationship. You have a chance to see what they’re like as a person and do it in a community that is a little bit more … comfortable for you compared to walking into the counseling center. That can be scary for some students. That’s all very intentional ways that we try to reduce barriers to access and fight stigma.”
Visit the Let’s Talk website for schedule and location information.
When it comes to building community on campus, peer support is vital in addition to professional support. The University has over 600 active student clubs and organizations, but like making a counseling appointment, it can be intimidating to get involved with these groups.
Fiona Prestemon, a fourth-year studying psychology, president of The Movement Peer Educators and vice president of the Healing EveryBODY club, said initiating involvement was the hardest step for her to find community.
“Getting involved, that first step is always the hardest one, but we really try and make it as easy to get in as possible,” Prestemon said.
Most student organizations have emails listed on Get Involved where students can reach out to club leaders for more information. Even more often, student clubs are active and responsive on social media, particularly Instagram, providing an easy way to keep up with their programming and events. Many clubs accept new members throughout the semester and welcome students to come to a meeting or two to try it out with no commitment.
“Maybe it’s too scary to join a club or organization right off the bat,” Osburn said. “But maybe you make an appointment to talk to the adviser to find out a little bit more information, or maybe you do a website search. What are the incremental steps to help you grow into reaching that goal? [You] don’t just have to automatically jump in if that doesn’t feel comfortable.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) campus chapter is a student club that focuses on support, education and advocacy regarding mental health. They host regular de-stress events and work with other clubs and organizations on campus to increase mental illness visibility.
Ambrose McNally, a fourth-year studying psychology and president of NAMI on campus, urged students to overcome hesitancy to get involved by bringing a friend with them to meetings or spaces.
“I definitely would recommend bringing a friend, for example to the [community] centers, someone that you already know,” McNally said. “At least you have someone there to talk to and engage with.”
Other resources
In addition to their regular resources, the Counseling Center has partnered with AcademicLiveCare to provide students with 12 free virtual counseling sessions throughout 2023. An in-depth list of on-campus support resources including Prevention Services’ drop-in spaces, Pack Recovery and embedded counseling within certain colleges is available on the Counseling Center’s website.
