Haven J-P.

UVic Student Mental Health Guest Blogger

Hello! My name is Haven and I am an MSc. Candidate here at UVic. Although my research looks at the effects of changing climate on streams here in Western Canada, I have become overwhelmingly fascinated and passionate about mental health and all of its inherent intricacies. In the space I took between degrees, I found myself facing up to my own mental health struggles for the first time—and although it was incredibly difficult, through the challenges I also experienced amazing personal growth and insight…which is something I would never wish to trade in.

New to Victoria, I am finding myself falling in love with this city more and more each day. My true loves are the outdoors: camping, paddling, hiking, as well as yoga, family, cooking real nourishing food from scratch and indulging in deliciously good novels (if there is a dragon on the cover, my inner child wakes right up with glee). I could not be more grateful to be alive and well in a city so full of beauty and possibility. Thank you for reading some of my thoughts: I hope that in some small way, I can help to disentangle the stigma attached to mental illnesses and the like, and help others to thrive as I muddle my own way through my 20’s. Cheers!