A night for networking
Mental Health Week booth. Photo credit: Vikes Rec.
This week was Mental Health Week at UVic. When one sees a large tent in the middle of the quad, there’s a certain level of hesitation to approach. Not saying I’ve never been the guy in the tent (once had to wear a beaver costume for 2 hours—don’t ask), but there is a small fear of being lectured about some important campus issue when you have five minutes before class and you want to hit up the bathroom so you don’t get stuck in a lecture with the urge to…well you know.
I was pleasantly surprised this week to discover that because of mental health week, the UVSS (University of Victoria Student’s Society) was giving away hot chocolate and #BellLet’sTalk swag. I don’t need incentive to appreciate the importance of mental health, but I really appreciated that no one had a planned speech in mind; they were all there because they wanted students to know that discussing mental health is…well…healthy. Along with the hot chocolate and sweet bracelets, people pinned up messages about why they think mental health is so important. University can be one of the most stressful environments, so it is nice to know someone cares and no one is going to lecture you about it.
Along with Mental Health Week, this week was “Success in the Humanities” Co-op workshop week. April McNeil, the Humanities Co-op Advisor is the best. She organized a slew of events including “Employer Networking Night,” resume workshops in Clearihue (the main hub for Humanities classes) and “You and the Job Market” class. For some, graduating with a Bachelor of Humanities degree could seem stressful and uncertain, but for me – not so much. I’ve been to all of these events and I’ve heard employers talk and the most sought after skills they say they’re looking for are: critical thinking and communications. So I guess writing all those English essays was worth it in the end, as much as I hate to admit it.
If you currently go to UVic, you’re probably sick of hearing: “join co-op” and if you are considering UVic, get ready to hear it a lot. Honestly, without co-op I would have no idea about what direction I wanted to go after graduation. I had the most amazing experience with my co-op last summer. I got to boat around to all the Gulf Islands and get paid to do it. How sweet is that? Still not convinced? Check out some of this past summer’s humanities co-op blogs. Some of the placements almost seem too good to be true.
