A Meeting with our Mental Health Consultant

We recently talked to our mental health professional, and these were some of the things we asked her, and our summary of them.

Can you introduce yourself as a mental health professional?

Christy Farris, High School Counselor

What can students do to avoid feeling isolated?

Getting together in person as much as you can is really important. If you only talk to people online, you will never have a full connection and growth with that person.

How could students improve their attitude towards school?

Look at the big picture and the purpose of things. Even if you don't like the school or what you are studying, keep in mind the big picture and the purpose of high school. You are still on an identity journey, and you are still evolving through high school. Think of what these 4 years can do to make you happy and improve your future life. This is seen as a chore, but a huge part of high school is learning to be emotionally stable and mature.

What should students who feel unmotivated do?

Explore your passions and identity, figure out why you are unmotivated. Even if it feels inevitable or final, that isn't how reality works. If you are unhappy about something, how can you change it to make it better? Figure out what makes you unhappy and happy. What do you enjoy? Break the problem down and take small steps towards change.

What can students do if they dread school?

What part? This is super broad, but maybe you don't dread school, maybe you dread your 3rd period, or specific things. Go through the day and figure out what you dread. After pinpointing the issues, the dread doesn't just disappear, dreading things doesn't always harm you. It's okay if you are trying to protect yourself or are afraid of something. How can you cope with those moments that make you have dread? You can't control your feelings all the time, but there are not bad feelings, just feelings that don't serve you at that time. For example, your dread could protect you from a toxic place you are in.

How can schools and teachers help students feel more emotionally supported by them?

There is no set measurement for this, the teacher's job is not to meet the emotional needs of the students, and they have many different students and jobs who all feel different things. They cannot possibly meet everyone's needs. Approach your teachers for help, this is the best possible thing you can do if you are struggling in a class. Doing this can build emotional connection and support in a class, since they don't know you need support.

This can also humanize the student in the teachers eyes and let them think about that for the future. Overall, reaching out for a personal relationship and recognizing that each student and teacher is a human and you can have a personal relationship with them, even if it is not super close or you are like best friend. People just need to feel like they are cared about.

We would like to thank Ms. Farris for her time and knowledge about these areas.