CREDIT: THE FANSHAWE STUDENT UNION’S (FSU) MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK TAKES PLACE FROM OCT. 7 TO 11.
DYLAN CHARETTE

Oct.10 is World Mental Health Day. To celebrate, the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) is hosting Mental Health Awareness Week from Oct. 7 to 11.

Mental Health Awareness week highlights the support available to the students should they need to access services for their mental well-being. The week features various events taking place in Forwell Hall.

“As the representatives of the student body, we need to appreciate their challenges,” said FSU interim president Julia Brown. “Mental health is one of the leading health issues young people face, and in order for our students to be successful, they need to know where they can go should they have any issues with managing it.”

During this week there will be different activities such as Cereal and Cartoons on Oct. 8 from 8 a.m. to noon, as well as Chicken Nugget Yoga on Oct 9 at noon.

“Chicken Nugget Yoga is literally just yoga but with chicken nuggets. As you bend, you dip,” Brown explained. “It’s just a fun way to introduce yoga to different students who normally wouldn’t engage. We’ve also hosted a goat yoga in the past which was successful as well.”

Fanshawe College also has an entire Counselling and Accessibility office dedicated to helping their students should they be in a crisis or need help managing their mental health. The office is located in F Building room 2010.

“Outside of that, the FSU holds multiple events aimed at relieving the stress on students during particularly trying times in the school year such as midterms and exams,” Brown said. “Our Chill Lounges offer a variety of events including henna, petting zoos, yoga, food, you name it.”

To celebrate World Mental Health Day, the FSU will be hosting a Chill Lounge in Forwell Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Throughout the year, the FSU also makes an effort to include things that would de-stress students walking by, such as free breakfasts to make sure students start their day off right.

The FSU website, FSU.ca, has a section dedicated to mental health and mental health resources available to students. You can also find more about these upcoming events and others at fsu.ca/events. Fanshawe College has lots available for their students when it comes to mental health and mental health awareness.