Written by Tehya Rafayelle Nuñez
What better way to express love and care for someone than by actively listening to them? This simple question sits at the heart of the latest initiative by the Center for Counseling and Student Development (CCSD). As students, we often focus so much on our “to-do” lists that we forget the importance of our “to-be” state. To address this, the CCSD has released the “Love and Wellness Podcast Series 2.0,” a collection of digital conversations suited to the unique needs of our diverse student body.
This series is a big step in how students handle mental health on campus. It shows that wellness is different for everyone. While the first six episodes provided the basics, during this month of love and connections, the CCSD released another six-part series called ‘Subscription to Enthusiasm,’ looking at the real lives of different students. The series started off with ‘Fostering Connections 2.0’ to help all students, especially the children of OFWs who face their own unique challenges. By exploring the power of presence, the CCSD emphasized that active listening is a primary act of love, especially across the distances that separate many families.
As the series progressed, the podcast series tackled topics on pressures felt by the academic scholars as they continue striving for excellence or staying excited about school without burning out; a topic provided for the students under the CCSD ACHIEVE program. There was also a topic for the students with special needs, which gave emphasis on well-being. Other topics offered through the podcasts were handling the pressure of being leaders while representing the school, offered to the student assistants, marshals, athletes, and government scholars; and the topic on balancing academic life with parenthood, which was provided for the students who are parents themselves. All these sessions provided a much-needed reality check, further pointing out that mental wellness is a long-term goal. More so, the different topics underlined that taking care of one’s wellness is not a luxury, but rather the foundation that allows an individual to help others reach their own goals, while trying to achieve their own.
The “Love and Wellness Podcast Series 2.0” series proves that the conversation on mental health is a collective effort rooted in empathy. The twelve episodes, ranging from the foundational lessons of the first season to the expert-led deep dives of the second, provide a digital sanctuary for every UBian. By hitting “play” and engaging with these resources, a UBian takes charge of his own development, learning that to truly “do” great things, one must first learn how to “be” well. This reminds us that wellness begins with a single, intentional act: the choice to finally listen to the heart, both our own and those of the people around us.
