The Santa Rosa Junior College PEERS coalition hosted this semester’s first Well-Being Wednesday on Zoom on Oct. 6 to talk about positivity, thankfulness and good memories of 2021.
At one point, the group wrote thank you notes to people they were thankful for. Quinn, from PEERS, wrote a thank you note to her family on an Etch-a-Sketch, and Jeane Erlenborn, a PEERS supervisor, wrote one for her sister.
The group also talked about what they do to stay positive in the face of stress and pressure. Matti, a student journalist, has to report on the “darkness” in the world, and finds that remaining positive is about finding the “right balance, the silver lining.” Quinn says that in her Chinese culture, “if I can’t change the outside reality, I can change how I perceive it.”
The PEERS Coalition is a Student Health Services program that uses the voices of students to increase the conversation surrounding mental health.
“A big part of what we do not just as people but as PEERS is reducing the stigma around mental health,” Matti said. They are “trying to create a world where we can be vulnerable as people and not expected to be robots.”
Before the pandemic, Well-Being Wednesday was hosted on campus. Now it’s on Zoom only so that people who go to the JC virtually can feel less alone.
“Isolation isn’t good for mental health,” Abby Miranda said.
Well-Being Wednesdays is 5-6 p.m. every first and third Wednesday on Zoom. Student Health Services also provides free therapy to all students; they can be reached at 707-527-4445. Students can follow the PEERS Coalition and stay up to date with their events on Instagram at @srjcpeers.
