Addressing rising rates of burnout and increasing needs for mental health supports were on the human service students' minds as they worked together to plan the first Lakeland College Wellness Symposium this February.
"I think addressing wellness and burnout has become increasingly important since Covid," says second-year child and youth care counselling student Ann Hewko, one of the student-organizers of the event. "There has been a lot more need for our field, working with people, since the pandemic. The shutdown affected a lot of people's mental health and really affected child development, with socialization skills. There has been a much stronger increase in need."
With that in mind, plans for a modest Human Services Day quickly ballooned into something bigger than organizers had imagined, with plans to include different college departments and the community at large.
Held on Feb. 28, the Wellness Symposium featured breakout sessions for students addressing topics ranging from mental wellness, yoga, business and more. A tradeshow featured booths run by wellness organizations, as well as different college and community clubs. The event featured a keynote presentation from Dr. Jody Carrington on burn out and the importance of frontline workers taking care of their mental health.
"The event went really well," says Hewko. "We were really happy with it. We had a lot of support from the college and the community. It was very successful and inspirational."
Organizing the event served was one of Hewko's four practicum placements as part of her program. It took her out of her comfort zone, she explained, showing her a different side of the human services field. It helped her develop organizational, managerial and time management skills and showed her the different routes a career in human services could take her.
Most importantly, though, she learned critical lessons on the importance of mental health, both in the human services field and generally.
"Wellness can look differently for everybody," Hewko says. "You need to focus on what's going to help you and work for you to make sure that you're okay and that you're happy so you can help take care of others."
The Wellness Symposium was funded by dollars raised at Feast on the Farm, an annual fundraiser supporting student-led learning initiatives.
