Development of the Wellness Speech Center - Essay Example

 The Center of Wellness Speech One in four young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have a diagnosable mental illness (1). 75 percent of lifetime cases of mental health conditions begin by age 24. Here at Everett Community College, the statistical median age is 23 (1). Even worse, 64 percent of young adults who are no longer in college are not attending college because of a mental health related reason (1). That means almost half of the students that attend EvCC yearly go through situations that effect their mental well-being, that can lead to anxiety and depression that in the end can end up having students fail out of school, lose any financial aid granted; creating even more struggles on one’s mindset. We are starting to see an increase in Colleges and Universities across the country in the awareness of mental health, linking it to academic success. Here at EvCC, a group of students went into the community of the student body to ask if they need a space on campus to take a breather, de-stress, connect with others going through the same situations as they are and how they would like that space to feel like. The results were gargantuan, over 360 students not only said they would benefit from a space targeted on relieving their stress in college, they asked how they can help make it happen, they asked the group to please make it happen and they said they needed this to happen; for their success. Going through intense challenges, without any type of quick outlet to turn to is what makes some students not seek help at all. This is why this space, The Center of Wellness, in Gray Wolf room 370 is here. The idea is to provide outreach, rather than expecting students to seek help if they need it when we already know a good percent of students may need it. The room will be advised by Student LIFE’s Programs Board, the manager will collaborate with the board to program a stress relief series, the five coordinators on the board will each program as event geared towards wellness and stress relief. Besides the five events per quarter, there will be continuing collaboration with the Counselors at EvCC to program workshops, lectures, group discussions such as the LEARN training on suicide prevention lead by CSS. The Center of Wellness started with students, created for students and their aspirations to succeed here at EvCC, it is here where we no longer sweep the topic of mental stress under the rug; we give the community access to achieve the personal and academic aspirations within to gain the best overall health possible. Just like the famous Malcom X said, “When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘WE’, even ‘Illness’ becomes ‘Wellness’ (2).” What have you learned about yourself as a leader from the experience of facilitating The last time I sat down and wrote this paper I was looking more into what matched the book terms and made sure I tied things together so I ‘sounded’ like I knew the material; more than I knew myself within the project. Now two quarters later and almost a year going with this project I understand myself, importantly what I deeply learned from this experience about my abilities as a leader and facilitator. Those two things I was trying to accomplish in one was my downfall, trying to be the leader and facilitator at the same time was where I was failing. I had to learn that I can be both but I had to distinguish when and where I needed to be one more than the other. Starting with being a facilitator, to me is the guiding person that provides the environment for a group or team members to obtain responsibility and take the lead, facilitation is a skill of leadership. For example, during meetings I was creating agendas, and focused on big picture and looking at others to see if they were following suit. At the same time, I wanted to help the group reach goals and make sure time was spent well and tasks where getting completed on time. Rather then moving smoothly through stages I created an unorganized, confusing environment which was too much not only for myself but for the others around me. This is why most of the committees fell through and interest and commitment where low. I was making the mistake of taking on the major roles of leader (focusing on agendas and meetings, and creating the schedules etc.) and facilitator (trying to guide the group and build trusting relationships through group development etc.) with leaving no room for creative ideas from others; giving no room for others to take a lead. Getting tasks completed while understanding the groups dynamics to help the team reach its goals and objectives should have been the focus when facilitating throughout this project. A leader, to me is somebody who sees the whole picture and steps it takes to get there and leads the group to make the picture become whole and a person who inspires and sparks from within from their peers. With this project, it started off with seven students in class, and when the quarter needed I had myself and two members and other faculty on campus that I had to start all over as a new group and define new roles and task. Here is when I should have facilitated when instead I was leading. For example, in the summer when there was two members in the now formed committee and three other staff and faculty from around campus, I kept the same ideas and worked with where the starting members left off spring quarter. Not leaving any room for the group to come together and really form. I believe if I took on the facilitator role here instead of the leader role the group would have took on their roles and lead the group in them. Certainly, I see you need both of these as I see facilitation as a skill that leaders have, I did not see or fathom the fact there is a time and place on when and where to use one or both. With this project, I got caught up in the cause of the project, the different groups and roadblocks, all while trying to maintain what I learned during the beginning of the project. Looking back now and knowing those times I was leading meetings I should have been facilitating them letting others lead it. While getting new groups, committee, teams together I should have been leading instead of facilitating was the biggest eye opener and best learning experience because distinguishing those roles and skills and learning when to use them truly creates struggles and setbacks or progress and accomplishment. If started today, what would you do different, communication practices would you implement? If I were to start the project from scratch today, I would do many things differently beginning with spending more time on talking to students and getting more signatures and statements from students to show a great number of the student body wants/needs the room. I think we did great showing this but if we came with writing statements and seven hundred signatures instead of three hundred to prove the deep need for this would have had a more serious outcome from administration. Then I would have first and foremost went to every person in the counseling department and get more then support but create a plan that had them invested in the project, it would have been my goal to spark their brain with the change that we want to create. One thing I would do as well is attend the Board of Trustee meetings and articulate the findings we found during surveying students and tell them about the whole project. Even going monthly give updates to paint the picture that this project is a need and is here to stay, hopefully gaining their approval. As I attended a BOT meeting recently I seen the missed opportunity that could have been a game changer. For instances so many deans and department heads that we meet with from start to finish are mostly all in those meetings and would have been a great contribution to the buy-in we put lots of time in to obtain. Another important part I would change was the relationship gained with PROPELS. When we first heard about the program and their objective and mission matched ours so much we dived right into collaborating with them (which I pushed for during the discovery of PROPELS) and seeing what we could accomplish together. This was a mistake as the program was not being utilized as much and had low participants that its slowed the project down more than it did help it. With that being said I would take more accountability for my faults and step back some to hear the members and what they were conveying instead of taking that leadership role and riding it without having any flexibility. With this in mind, the communication practices I would implement would create a purpose of understanding and engage team relationships to be successful and achieve constructive change. To accomplish this, I would seek to know what matters to the people around me so that I can be forthcoming about my objectives and goals that way as a collective we will have the intention to get things done. All while being open to all methods of communication, that starts with practicing listen to learn skills. Making sure that my actions align with my words so that the people around me can visually see something and see it as doable and purposeful. In the end I would be the message and not just the messenger, be there with the team not only for the team. In this long run, from spring quarter 2018 and seven group members to a summer committee that fell through ended up with me wore out and taking a break during fall quarter almost giving up, at the same time always being aware for any signals for growth for the space. Finally, during my work in Student LIFE and hearing/seeing all of the sudden discussions and interest in student’s mental wellness, I brought up the idea to my advisor and it was a go that Student LIFE Programs Board will take on the space, not being open always just yet, but coordinating a minimum of six events per quarter in the space and programing a whole stress relief series going forward. Collaboration with CSS is already happening as they are doing a LEARN (suicide prevention) training in the space this coming spring quarter 2019 and any other department on campus are welcome to collaborate, with any event going through the board. It has been the longest project I have ever had, reason being it’s the most important project I ever had. Visuals (Of the space being used) Student LIFE Programs Board Manager Application, defines ‘The Center for Wellness apart of the job description Bead Who You Are, identity activity used in the space Visuals Keep Calm: Sip, Paint & Communicate De-Stress Event held March 13, 2019 in GWH 370 Keep Calm: Sip, Paint & Communicate De-Stress Event held March 13, 2019 in GWH 370 Keep Calm: Sip, Paint & Communicate De-Stress Event held March 13, 2019 in GWH 370 Works Cited (1) College, C. (2019). College Student Mental Health Statistics - Behavior Intervention Team - Chadron State College. Csc.edu. Retrieved 14 March 2019, from, https://www.csc.edu/bit/resources/statistics/ (2) "Malcolm X Quotes, Death, Wife, Kids, Real Name, Biography." Answers Africa. N. p., 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2019. Read More