High school students Mackenzie Jefferies and Susie O’Brien and university students Jenna LeFrense and Shannon Clark-Holwell attended the Jack Summit in Toronto earlier this month. Both Corner Brook Regional High and the Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador have chapters of Jack.org, and each of these delegates of the national summit are involved.
For Clark-Holwell and Jefferies, their interest in the network of young leaders bringing mental health to the forefront came from personal struggles with anxiety.
Clark-Howell says she remembers being anxious as a young child. It was particularly difficult for her growing up in the small community of Cartwright on the coast of Labrador, because she said there were few answers or little understanding of what she has dealing with. The stigma attached to mental illnesses was prevalent, she said.
As she got older, she learned more about mental health and took it upon herself to research and develop an understanding.
“I just felt like it was my place to be and understand more about myself, and to help others that are going through the same thing,” she said.
Jefferies said the anxiety for him built as he entered high school, where the societal pressures of looking a certain way, fitting in and academic success magnified. He believes it is something every high school student feels at least during some parts of their lives.
To be able to live through anxiety or depression, and to rise above it, is something he believes should be celebrated. That is something from the national summit which resonated with him. A person who beats cancer is celebrated in society, but those who beat a mental illness are still often considered weak or lesser, he said.
“They defeated an illness that also destroys lives, and it didn’t lead to suicide,” he said. “They beat it, and they are still here today, so why not give depression survivors the same celebration we give cancer?”
LeFrense is a fourth-year nursing student who plans to pursue a career in the mental health field. For her, the summit was a chance to learn about mental health from a different perspective, åsomething she believes will be an asset to her as a health care professional.
“I talked to a lot of people who have a mental illness about what they needed when they were having a rough time,” she said. “Hearing from people who have been through it, and knowing what they needed at that time, gave me a different idea of what I could be doing on the unit.”
They are all excited about the chance to bring what they learned back to the local community. It won’t be long before they get that opportunity as they plan to participate in the provincial Grenfell Campus Jack Satellite Summit March 19 in Corner Brook.
Twitter: @WS_CoryHurley
High school students Mackenzie Jefferies and Susie O’Brien and university students Jenna LeFrense and Shannon Clark-Holwell attended the Jack Summit in Toronto earlier this month. Both Corner Brook Regional High and the Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador have chapters of Jack.org, and each of these delegates of the national summit are involved.
For Clark-Holwell and Jefferies, their interest in the network of young leaders bringing mental health to the forefront came from personal struggles with anxiety.
Clark-Howell says she remembers being anxious as a young child. It was particularly difficult for her growing up in the small community of Cartwright on the coast of Labrador, because she said there were few answers or little understanding of what she has dealing with. The stigma attached to mental illnesses was prevalent, she said.
As she got older, she learned more about mental health and took it upon herself to research and develop an understanding.
“I just felt like it was my place to be and understand more about myself, and to help others that are going through the same thing,” she said.
Jefferies said the anxiety for him built as he entered high school, where the societal pressures of looking a certain way, fitting in and academic success magnified. He believes it is something every high school student feels at least during some parts of their lives.
To be able to live through anxiety or depression, and to rise above it, is something he believes should be celebrated. That is something from the national summit which resonated with him. A person who beats cancer is celebrated in society, but those who beat a mental illness are still often considered weak or lesser, he said.
“They defeated an illness that also destroys lives, and it didn’t lead to suicide,” he said. “They beat it, and they are still here today, so why not give depression survivors the same celebration we give cancer?”
LeFrense is a fourth-year nursing student who plans to pursue a career in the mental health field. For her, the summit was a chance to learn about mental health from a different perspective, åsomething she believes will be an asset to her as a health care professional.
“I talked to a lot of people who have a mental illness about what they needed when they were having a rough time,” she said. “Hearing from people who have been through it, and knowing what they needed at that time, gave me a different idea of what I could be doing on the unit.”
They are all excited about the chance to bring what they learned back to the local community. It won’t be long before they get that opportunity as they plan to participate in the provincial Grenfell Campus Jack Satellite Summit March 19 in Corner Brook.
Twitter: @WS_CoryHurley
