Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling and no relationship is created between the show hosts or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student, we encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective counties crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Bama Balance podcast.
You know, it's a, It's a good day today.
Good weather. Coming back from break. I don't know about y', all, but there's something about, like, not wanting to come back from break that just always, like, makes it so hard to get, like, actually just go to class.
But that's kind of where I'm at, where I'm at right now. What about y'?
[00:01:05] Speaker C: All?
[00:01:06] Speaker D: Yeah, Edward and I were just talking about the senioritis issue, and I know for me it's kind of becoming an increasing problem here.
You know, the temptation to skip class and enjoy this beautiful weather we're having right now is, is pretty real, but I'm trying to stay on top of it, make sure that my, my attendance grades are staying up.
[00:01:22] Speaker C: It's so hard, isn't it? I mean, it's, it's, it's just a nice way to, to relax and worry about nothing.
And coming back can seem like it takes a little bit more work. I think we do have to say that.
That we haven't gotten rid of Brooks Barbary. Brooks today is out on the golf course somewhere participating in the ATO ALS tournament, which is for a great cause. And Brooks, we're with you in spirit.
I know that you probably are using a good, a few good choice words to celebrate some of the shots that you're making.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Some of the in between. Segment words.
[00:02:06] Speaker C: Segment words.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: That's right.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: Yes. So I was, I was talking earlier and we had. Or I had read an article made me think about today, about from a psychological perspective, how swearing can be really helpful in managing stress, in increasing motivation, and that it's most helpful when it's not.
When it's not self critical.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: It's certainly an outlet.
[00:02:42] Speaker C: Yes, that's exactly it. It's an outlet in my experience. Yes.
You want to say more about that, Edward? Your experience?
[00:02:50] Speaker B: Well, I mean, if we're thinking. Especially thinking about the golf course.
[00:02:52] Speaker C: Oh, the golf course, yeah.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: But in general. But it's good if there's, you know, some built up stress or tension, you let it out verbally.
[00:03:02] Speaker C: When that's it, that's it. Rather than holding it all in.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: And it kind of helps you. It helps clear your mind a little bit.
[00:03:07] Speaker C: Yeah, if.
[00:03:07] Speaker B: If in the right context.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: I remember so back in my early career, I was working with some adjudicated delinquent male adolescents and the language that they used was pretty impressive. I mean, it was. I wrote down a few choice words that to this day are pretty impressive. I've never thought about using them in that kind of combination.
It was impressive.
[00:03:34] Speaker D: Yeah, it is. I know that I've got my bank of choice words and I'm on the golf course too, because my shots are usually not going to the middle.
[00:03:40] Speaker C: It's left or right, left or right.
[00:03:42] Speaker D: I'll find water if there's a pond somewhere.
[00:03:45] Speaker C: Well, we're thinking about Brooks and we also want to welcome Henry Glover too, is our guest co host today for, for this episode of the Bama Balance. So, Henry, thanks for joining us here.
[00:03:56] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, I'm really happy to be back. And you know, we were catching up and I think it was October.
[00:04:00] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:00] Speaker D: When I was last on here and our topic was just kind of general anxiety in the men's college experience. And it's really good to kind of look back on that and come back now as a co host.
[00:04:09] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:04:09] Speaker D: And I've got some big shoes to fill for Brooks Barbary, but I know he's out having a good day and I'm happy to fill the role, but things have been good, you know, really getting close to this graduation time here on the stage, going to Knoxville, Tennessee after school, work for a logistics company.
[00:04:24] Speaker C: Nice.
[00:04:25] Speaker D: So, you know, it's all bittersweet stuff. You know, very sad to think about leaving this great university, but also, you know, know, amazing things ahead that I'm really excited about.
[00:04:33] Speaker C: No, that's wonderful. And, and thanks for joining us this afternoon to be able to co host with us. And it'll be a lot of fun. It'll be a lot of fun.
[00:04:42] Speaker D: I'm looking forward to it.
[00:04:43] Speaker B: I can't wait.
Well, that'll be the end of our intro segment. We're going to introduce our guest when we come back, which I'm very excited to do. You've been listening to the Bama Bal.
Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:05:12] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling and no relationship is created between the show host or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student. We encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348387.
If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective counties crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Welcome back, everybody, to the bama balance. And as Edward mentioned, we're excited to have as our guest today Hannah heard.
Hannah is joining us this afternoon as outgoing VP for belonging in wellness for sga. And so, Hannah, if you could just say a little bit about yourself and a bit of an introduction.
[00:06:16] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you all for having me. So my name is Hannah. I'm a senior here at the capstone from Tampa, Florida, and I have served in SGA freshman year through the judicial branch. And now I've the past year gotten to be the vice president for belonging and wellness.
[00:06:32] Speaker C: That is a relatively new position. Right.
And Aubrey Grisoff was the. Was the first person in that role. How has it been for you this past year? I know elections have happened. You're outgoing, but this past year, how has it been for you being in that role?
[00:06:47] Speaker E: I think it's been really exciting with it being a new role because there wasn't a lot of definition to it and belonging and wellness is so broad. So this year we've really focused on making it more defined and introducing a lot more programming and initiatives focused at different areas of wellness to kind of give it a more defined scope.
[00:07:04] Speaker C: I know the capstone wellness Explorer is really a signature initiative last year, and it continues to be.
How has that gone this past year?
[00:07:13] Speaker E: Yeah, this year it's been amazing. We've broken records in every single category and seen over 7,000 students at this point who've engaged with the program. So the reach has been incredible. But we've gotten to introduce students to a lot of different events and initiatives. We have, I think, over 70 different event hosts across the university. So we've definitely gotten a lot of students to come to, Whether it's counseling center events or camellia center initiatives, We've seen a lot more of campus getting involved in those things for the cwe.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: So I was just talking to my exec directors. We had a meeting earlier today about how engaged our students in those events that are, you know, that carry CWE points. And they were saying that they're very engaged. So it's really nice to see that, you know, students are there not just for the points, but are engaging in the activities and things like that. You know, mental health is. Is certainly one of the big areas on campus and one of the aspects of well being. And I'm curious as to hearing what your perspectives are now that you've had a chance to be in this role VP for a year. You know, what's been your experience and perspective on mental health here on campus?
[00:08:22] Speaker E: I think I've seen through any large campus, it's always kind of going to be an issue. And there are students that are struggling on any campus. And I think one thing that I've noticed a lot through my term is that there's a lot of resources and students don't necessarily know they exist.
And at times I think we have almost an over saturation of so many incredible resources on campus that a lot of times students miss seeing certain things. So we hear from a lot of students that they wish they had this resource for counseling or something else mental health related. And a lot of times it already exists at the university and it's just kind of a barrier of getting that to students when we have such a large campus.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: What have you seen are some of the more effective ways to let students know of some of those resources?
[00:09:04] Speaker E: I think social media has been a huge one. We do a lot of surveys with CWE asking students what kind of wellness events they would attend. And the highest rated ones are always asynchronous or virtual events. So whether they're zoom events or an asynchronous a survey or something, I think getting things out virtually to students especially. We have so many students at UA that maybe don't come to campus every day and can't see a flyer or a building. They can see something online. I think that's been really effective.
[00:09:29] Speaker C: So it's interesting to me. So you're also graduating then this year, right? And Henry, you'll be off next year. And Edward, you've got another year.
[00:09:37] Speaker B: One more.
[00:09:38] Speaker C: You got one more year going.
I'm curious as to get your take on just overall college mental health over the past year. And you know, what have you seen that's maybe changed or what have you seen that maybe needs to change?
[00:09:53] Speaker D: Well, I think that I've definitely seen throughout my time and especially getting involved, you know, in a fraternity and becoming closer with, with men my age that there's definitely a barrier that you have to break to understand what a person's going through. There's a lot to be said, you know, about what's going on on the outside, but truly what a person's feeling, you Know, requires a little bit more effort to figure out, especially for the men, you know, where the stigma tends to be, that. I don't want to talk about this. You know, I'll get through it.
[00:10:18] Speaker B: I'll power through it.
[00:10:18] Speaker D: No big deal.
So I think that what I've seen change is that as you develop relationships and learn more about people, you can truly understand that there's always more to somebody's story to be told.
[00:10:29] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:10:30] Speaker B: That's really good.
I think it just. What I've seen is the increase in awareness, I think. Well, and I think it largely comes down to, obviously, like, we. We know a lot about the human body because it's been studied for so long, but, like, the mind is only, you know, in the grand scheme of things, a more recent development in terms of, like, how we as humans understand, like, our minds and mental health and your. The way your brain works and a lot of these things that people go through. For the longest time, we just didn't know how to address it.
[00:11:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: And I think as we are getting better at addressing those, more people are aware of the resources that are available to them. Kind of like what you were saying.
And I think it is.
It's cool. But also it's kind of like, all right, we got to, you know, keep letting people know.
[00:11:20] Speaker C: Right.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: And remove, like, those barriers that Henry was talking about. Whether it's, you don't want to talk about it or you don't know where to go, or you don't feel like you are in a place where you can because you see someone else, like, oh, they're going through way more. Who am I to even say? But I think it's just, you know, increasing that dialogue of what you're going through, of what you're thinking about. That way, it becomes normal.
[00:11:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Do you. Do you all get a sense that more students are open or at least willing to talk about their mental health issues than before?
[00:11:55] Speaker E: I think I would say there are more students that are open and willing to talk about it, but I still think I. There is a stigma in the sense of. A lot of students are supportive about mental health on campus, but maybe don't want to be supportive as themselves. So they'll say, I think therapy is great, or this is great, but not for me, or I don't personally need that. And so I think there's still a little bit of people don't want to put themselves in that context, and that's kind of a barrier on campus.
[00:12:19] Speaker C: So what do you think's behind that just, you know, so it sounds like that students are open to helping others and being supportive of others, but when it comes to their own mental health, there still might be some hesitancy, a stigma about that.
[00:12:36] Speaker E: I think it kind of goes to what Henry was saying about the idea of just, I can power through it. I think we're so quick to tell others, you know, you should get help and find resources, but we're a lot harder on ourselves and tell ourselves that we can just power through whatever problem we're facing.
[00:12:49] Speaker D: Yeah, I think there's more work to be done with the image of therapy and seeking help. You know, I don't think. I think that young people believe that if I go to therapy or I seek counseling that there's something wrong with them or that they have an issue when in fact, they're just taking the initiative to just, like, if you had a physical ailment and I broke my arm, I'd go to the doctor and get it fixed. You know, same thing with my mind. If I had anxiety or depression, I like to go see somebody to seek treatment. So I think that we need to continue reshaping that image of what therapy and counseling actually means.
[00:13:19] Speaker C: Right, right. I'm trying to. I'm trying to think of, you know, different ways also to address that stigma, because that's kind of what we're talking about. And, you know, ways that.
To make health seeking more approachable. It's kind of tough, I think, and particularly for college students, when you say, I mean, that sense of hesitancy and.
And I oftentimes wonder. I've kind of wondered this recently, that is it harder here at the university?
Because it seems to be this. There's increased competition in different areas in different schools. Where, in creating this sort of competitive environment, are we also creating a barrier to seeking help or some kind of stigma around that?
[00:14:23] Speaker B: I think it. It's like there's already this level of not like, I gotta get a case kind of stubbornness, but you are talking about, like, that I gotta get through it of a college student. Like, I feel like most. I've definitely been in this position before where I've just thought, not that I'm invincible, but that I can. I'm like, no matter what. Like, I'm just. I'm gonna. I'll get over it. I'll get over that hump. Whether it's, like, something that I'm trying to achieve or something that I'm working through or there's a lot of school, I have this, like, unearned confidence of yeah, I can do this, which I think is to an extent can be good. But I think when you pair that with the nature of how this campus can be, then it becomes, it can lead people to this tipping point of oh, wow, I feel inadequate or I feel overwhelmed or all these different emotions because I haven't been able to keep up when, you know, you're not necessarily. It feels like a race when it's not.
But I think the, the condition of the college student paired with UA for all of its ups and downs.
[00:15:29] Speaker C: Right.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Can lead to that a lot.
[00:15:31] Speaker C: Right. I mean, it's something that's, I mean, it's an issue that is not a new one. And it's been around seems like forever from where I sit.
But I also wonder at the same time, you know, Hannah, what have you seen on campus or in your experience, what have you seen has been helpful to advancing help seeking or positive aspects of mental health? Or what have you seen that's been helpful to promote help seeking and mental health?
[00:16:05] Speaker E: I think a lot of it, honestly like we're talking about is opening up those conversations. And I think especially being in a lot of spaces with student leaders and older leaders at the university, hearing them talk about their experiences with seeking help. I know I've personally am a big advocate for therapy and we'll talk about my experience with anyone. And being an SGA and hearing other SGA leaders also talk about their positive experiences with therapy, I think it's helped to destigmatize it a lot. So I really think leaders on campus sharing their experiences, so it makes it relatable.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Tell us, how did you become interested in the role for belonging in wellness?
[00:16:42] Speaker E: Yeah, well, my first two years in SGA I served as an associate justice and I worked with student conduct. We do all the student conduct cases and a lot of people don't realize that a lot of those cases involve connecting students with campus resources. Whether it's connecting them with Collegiate Recovery or the counseling center or other workshops on campus. It's not punitive. It's supposed to be things to help improve their campus experience and set them up for success.
And so I just became really interested in connecting students with resources for their well being.
And I've also served in some kind of belonging related roles in other organizations. So it was kind of the perfect combination of things I'm passionate about.
[00:17:17] Speaker C: Has it felt or how rewarding has it felt for you?
[00:17:20] Speaker E: It's been really rewarding, I think. I was recently giving a presentation in class about my job and just saying that at every event I've hosted, I've had some student come up and say that they learned something about a new resource they weren't aware of or had a new experience or just met someone new. And so being able to know that we've hosted something, even if it's only impacted one person, it still impacted that person has been really rewarding.
[00:17:40] Speaker C: That's kind of a nice sort of hallmark or legacy to leave, it sounds like.
[00:17:44] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:17:45] Speaker C: Gosh. So there's so much more, I think, that we can continue to. To talk about and. And explore. And so if you've got some time, Hannah, stick around for the second segment and we'll be right back with you. This is the Batman Balance. We'll be right back.
[00:18:14] Speaker B: Wvuafm, Tuscaloosa.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling, and no relationship is created between the show hosts or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student, we encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective county crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
[00:18:59] Speaker D: All right, we are back with the Bama Balance podcast. And so, Hannah, after such, you know, an impactful year as serving with belonging wellness, I kind of want to know, you know, what are your feelings about the term concluding and where would you like to see the position go as it is so new?
[00:19:12] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's been an incredible year. And something that I really prioritized going into sort of the end segment of my term is collecting a lot of feedback. So we've surveyed, even as of yesterday, several thousand students on their impressions about belonging and wellness programming on campus and collected a lot of data. And some of that preliminary data has guided us of what dimensions of wellness in the Alabama model students are really interested in exploring or feel like there's not a lot of programming for. And so something that I would love to see the term in the future for the role would be to kind of look at those and look at where students feel like there's not enough program and target those areas. So one thing that we've seen is like 60% of students on our survey said that they felt there wasn't enough spiritual wellness programming. And that was something that I wouldn't have personally pinpointed myself. But then we had 1400 students give us feedback and tell us that. And so I'd love to see the role kind of take that by the reins and say, let's get more spiritual wellness programming and do more with that. So I think taking more student feedback into account and letting that guide the role is something that I'm hoping to see in the future.
[00:20:14] Speaker C: Definitely.
Hannah's also served as SGA liaison to the Advisory Council. And I know we've had some of these. These conversations related to spiritual well being. What would you say Hannah would be like some of the programming next year you'd like to see around that?
[00:20:32] Speaker E: I think something that there's been things done in the past, a lot of kind of roundtable discussions, those have gotten good feedback of just students having the chance to come and talk about their spiritual well being. And so I'd love to see more of those and kind of, I think we talk about this with the advisory council, with doing focus groups that having conversations in kind of a more intimate, intimate setting are sometimes the best ones. And so I think some smaller kind of roundtable discussions on spiritual wellness can be something really impactful for students.
[00:20:58] Speaker C: Yeah. So thinking about the role of spiritual well being and mental health, what do you see as that link?
[00:21:05] Speaker E: Absolutely. I mean, I think spiritual well being we talk about a lot is that's kind of the most personal. If you think of seven dimensions of wellness, that's one that is so personal and so kind of integral to a lot of people and their identity. And so I think that for a lot of people, their spiritual well being is so tied into their personal identity and how they see themselves in the world. And so I think that it kind of plays a role in every aspect of your mental well being, of feeling secure in yourself, depending on where you're at with your spiritual wellness.
[00:21:32] Speaker C: You know, we had a previous episode on spirituality, Faith and spirituality.
[00:21:37] Speaker D: I remember that one. Yeah.
[00:21:38] Speaker C: Yeah. And it was, you know, something that. It was an episode that took us a while to can not get through but get a handle on because there's so much there.
And thinking about the relationship of spirituality and mental health, particularly college, I think is an underexplored area. And, you know, I think that it's something that certainly would be worth looking at, maybe even worth another like second part episode or something like that.
[00:22:12] Speaker D: No doubt.
[00:22:13] Speaker C: Right. To be. So do you think spirituality or how open are college students to wanting to talk about spirituality?
[00:22:23] Speaker E: I think sometimes there's a little more of a stigma of college students don't necessarily always want to talk about it because it can sometimes be uncomfortable and if you don't know kind of where someone else stands in their own spiritual journey. And so I think that that's where kind of having smaller and more intimate conversations versus maybe large scale events where someone feels like they're kind of exposed in talking about it is where kind of conversations are most effective to be
[00:22:48] Speaker C: able to have those conversations in smaller groups. And yeah, yeah, I be worth certainly revisiting for us and having another episode around that. You mentioned doing some research around CWE and I know you're doing research for your WIT Scholars Program and how's that going? Can you sort of tell us a little bit about that?
[00:23:10] Speaker E: Yeah. So for my kind of senior capstone project for the Witt Fellows program in the Honors College, evaluating the CWE and looking at wellness programs on campus. So we've been doing surveys all semester along with students about their experiences with the CWE and events they've attended. And at this point between different surveys, We've surveyed about 1500 students and we've been able to see kind of from a certain event that's an academic wellness event, what their outcomes were and how they felt their experience was at that event. And something that we've seen is that a lot of students are seeing good wellness outcomes from attending CWE events, no matter what dimension of wellness they're in. But something that we've also seen hugely is that across the board students have said that CWE points are something that gets them in the door at a lot of events. So we've seen students say that they're much more likely to attend an event if it's worth CWE points. And that has also correlated to a lot of students saying that they feel like attending an event was worth their time or was worthwhile for them. So I think that we've seen the CWE be effective at getting students to an event, but then the event has impacted students and they've learned something new from it.
[00:24:13] Speaker C: I know that a number of organizations and Greek chapters are engaging in, in CWE points and CWE events. How from. So from your perspectives, Henry and Edward, how do you think that they've gone so far this year?
[00:24:29] Speaker D: I think they've been good. Is there an opportunity for one this weekend?
[00:24:33] Speaker E: I think there is. I think there's a. There's something happening at the rec center this weekend.
[00:24:36] Speaker D: Yeah, I think that we plan or most was a plan to attend that one. I can't remember what the name of it is now, but they're really beneficial for your chapter Right. And then the experience that members are getting out of going to these events is kind of a twofold thing we try to promote, you know, if you've got the time and you don't have class or something to be at, you know, go check out those events. It's something good to go to. I think the most recent one that I went to was the talent show.
Yeah.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: All right.
[00:25:02] Speaker D: The Tide talent was most recent one that I've been to. And that's just. It's just good stuff and diversifies your college experience to kind of go do different things like that.
[00:25:10] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, I know that. That they're widely offered and fraternity organizations.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: I mean. Yeah, it's just about getting the word out. I know. Like, we. We try to make sure. I mean, like you said, like, making sure our guys know about it and making sure that they know, hey, these are important.
Like, it's not just, like, we do it for this one particular reason. Like, this is good stuff for you to learn.
[00:25:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: It's stuff that is helpful in just about every way as you go about your college experience.
So, yeah, I mean, I think I've seen it be very, very successful. And I feel like there's always something happening.
So you. There's just a lot of opportunity, I think, is the biggest. A lot of opportunity to go and learn. Because there's always, oh, there's an event this week or event at this time, be there. And the fact that, like, we know when they are where they are, like, is huge.
[00:26:00] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. It's almost a really wonderful way to incentivize participation. But at the same time, there's such an impact in terms of what knowledge and experiences gained from those programs.
I think Henry also was mentioning where you'd like to see.
[00:26:18] Speaker D: Yeah. Well, one thing real quick, Edward, you mentioned it's about getting the word out to find these events. And so, Hannah, for some of the viewers that are maybe new to the CWE program or want some more information, where's the best platform to find, like, calendar and schedule events?
[00:26:31] Speaker E: Yeah, I would say the CWE Instagram. It's just SGA Capstone Wellness Explorer. We post every single week a weekly lineup with the event, the location, the date, how many points it's worth. And so you can just look at it in three or four slides and see every single opportunity that week. And so that's, I think, the best way to look and find opportunities. But we also have our website calendar, and we have an outreach group meet. So there's a lot of different ways But I think social media is our most effective one.
[00:26:55] Speaker D: Gotcha.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: Yeah, it definitely is.
[00:26:57] Speaker D: I mean, we talk about social media all the time and it's positive and negative effects, but that's the best way to get word out if you've got something new or you're trying to promote is, you know, Instagram and story posts and things like that.
[00:27:07] Speaker C: For sure.
Looking at as you're. As you're transitioning out of your role, Hannah, what do you see as a future for the Capstone Wellness Explorer and its continued impact on mental health issues here on campus?
[00:27:23] Speaker E: I think, like we were talking about, as Edward said, with getting the word out, I think that that's where it's most effective, is amplifying program that's already happening.
So rather than SGA just doing repetitive programming that maybe is already happening on campus, looking at what are organizations and departments already doing and how can we spread the word to students? And so I think that is where I hope to see the CWE keep going is rather than necessarily maybe hosting its own programs, is just continuing to get the word out to more departments on campus. Because for as many events as we do have, there are also plenty of events each week that would be great, CWE events, but they aren't registered because maybe those event hosts don't know about it. And so I would love to see the CWE kind of get in contact with more departments on campus and just really focus on amplifying their programs.
[00:28:07] Speaker C: And to your knowledge, are there any other schools that are doing something similar to what we're doing?
[00:28:11] Speaker E: So there aren't any other schools that are doing something like the cwe? There are some schools that have engagement tracking programs and wellness programs, but nothing has kind of the structure we do of having externally hosted events that we make worth points through our program. So it's a really unique program.
[00:28:26] Speaker C: No, I love it. I love it. I think it's something that makes us sort of shine above the rest.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: Yeah, agreed.
[00:28:34] Speaker C: It's all good.
[00:28:35] Speaker D: All right, that is everything for segment two. We will see you all in the outro, Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: This show is not a substitute for professional counseling and no relationship is created between the show hosts or guests and any listener. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student, we encourage you to contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your respective counties crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 9111 or go to your nearest emergency room.
[00:29:40] Speaker C: Hey, y'. All.
[00:29:40] Speaker B: Welcome back to the Bama Balance. It's been a good episode today.
All things, you know, going great. Good episode, good weather, unfortunately, towards the end of the semester, but we don't have to think about that right now.
But, Hannah, thank you. Thank you again for so much for coming on. This has been a ton of fun, and I'm curious as to what because, I mean, you've done so many great things and you're doing so many great things still currently.
But what is, like, one thing that you are, I guess the one thing you are proud of, maybe the most proud of. It hasn't have to be like the most, but. Yeah, just something you are very proud of that you have done maybe at your time in SGA or maybe just on campus in general. But I think as just with the way the conversation's gone, you're with like, Capstone Wellness and something along those lines.
[00:30:26] Speaker E: Yeah, absolutely. I think when I look back at my term, probably the thing I'm most proud of is the amount of students that we've reached with the Capstone Wellness Explorer this year.
Just kind of running some of our preliminary numbers as the program ends in about a week. We've had over 7,000 students engage with our organizational path, and we had over 2,000 students engage with our individual path this year. And we've hosted nearly 200 events so far. And all of those numbers are massive increases over last year. I think one of them is as much as an 800% increase over last year's metrics. And so, yeah, and that is a lot. I'm very thankful. I have an incredible team, my Capsule Explorer executive board, and we've done an incredible amount of outreach this year, tabling almost every day in the fall and visiting over 50 different student organizations to present about the program.
We've worked really hard to spread the word, and it's been awesome this year to see that reflected in the numbers of how many students we've reached.
[00:31:18] Speaker C: That's massive. I don't know that I was aware of those numbers or those numbers won't respond.
[00:31:24] Speaker E: So we've had 2,000 students register for our individual pathway this year, which that is the 800% increase from last year's number, which is incredible. But we've also had over 7,000 students attend organizational pathway events, and we've had so many event hosts, so it's just been incredible.
[00:31:40] Speaker C: Crazy. Oh, my gosh. Do you see any limit to that?
[00:31:45] Speaker E: I think that at times it can be limiting when we have so many more students, but we still don't have as many events as we kind of could offer to students. So I think that's the big limit is we want to even offer more opportunities in the future.
[00:31:58] Speaker C: So what's, what's in in store then for the future? The Capstone Wellness Explorer and as it impacts mental health on campus?
[00:32:06] Speaker E: Yeah, I think this year kind of my focus was on outreach to students and I think next year the focus is going to be on outreach to campus partners that are doing programs for students and say we want to get you involved in the CWE and kind of forging more partnerships in that way.
[00:32:20] Speaker C: I love it. I love it.
It's been great having you here, Hannah. How's it been for you?
[00:32:26] Speaker E: Yeah, this is awesome. I'm so glad that y' all had me and this has been so exciting. I've been a listener for a while, so I'm excited to hear.
[00:32:31] Speaker C: Wow. Gosh, that's good to know. That's good to know. We need to actually get some updated numbers. I'm not sure exactly what those look like. So since you've been a listener for a while, what's been your impression of the podcast?
[00:32:42] Speaker E: I think it's awesome. The episodes that I have listened to especially, I've had plenty of friends who've been guests on the podcast and so I always enjoy listening to their episodes. But I think it's incredible for college students to come and talk about things that maybe are not as talked about on campus, even with conversations about mental health that are a little more stigmatized. Just for people to be able to listen and hear someone that's their age or in their organization having conversations about well being and mental health, health, I think are really impactful.
[00:33:06] Speaker C: What's been your favorite stuff? Your favorite episode?
[00:33:09] Speaker E: I don't know. You can't put me on the spot like that. That's not fair. What's been your favorite episode?
[00:33:14] Speaker C: Oh, they're all my favorites.
[00:33:15] Speaker E: They're all my favorite too.
[00:33:17] Speaker C: They're all my favorite episodes. This is, it's, it's been fun and you know, and certainly our intention is, you know, for the podcast was to have it as another resource for students on campus.
And I know as you're stepping down from your role, who's the next person that'll take over your position?
[00:33:39] Speaker E: Yeah. So Mary Kate Foster. She has been elected to my position. So she and I'll be transitioning in about a week from today.
[00:33:45] Speaker C: Mary Kate Foster Why do I know that name?
Hannah, why do I know that name?
[00:33:49] Speaker E: You might know her older brother, Johnny Foster.
[00:33:51] Speaker C: Johnny. Johnny Foster. Why do I know that name? No, no. Johnny was one of the OG co hosts of the Bamboo Balance. That's fantastic.
We probably need to get Mary Kate here at some point in time.
[00:34:05] Speaker E: She'd love it.
[00:34:05] Speaker B: Full circle moment.
[00:34:06] Speaker C: Full circle moment. We'll bring in Johnny.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: Johnny over the zoom. Yeah.
All the way from Duke.
[00:34:12] Speaker C: That's right, yeah. Who? They're still in the final or championship.
[00:34:17] Speaker B: I thought they were about to beat there for a second.
[00:34:19] Speaker C: Yes, they were. It was so scary. Yeah. We'll have to loot Johnny and we bring Mary Kate in as a guest host, but no. Thank you very much for being a part of the podcast today.
What's up for you down the road after graduation?
[00:34:34] Speaker E: So I'll be heading to law school in the fall. Haven't chosen where yet. I've got about two weeks until I have to make the final choice.
[00:34:40] Speaker C: So can you give us a hint or sort of sneak peek as to what you're thinking about?
[00:34:45] Speaker E: I don't know yet. Right now I've got a couple schools that I'm deciding between, so hopefully I'll know soon. But I'm kind of all over the map geographically, so it really. No clue yet. It's all up in the air.
[00:34:56] Speaker C: Gosh, I'm excited for you.
I'm excited for you.
Do any of those schools have crimson and white as their colors?
[00:35:06] Speaker E: One of them does.
[00:35:08] Speaker D: There we go.
[00:35:09] Speaker C: That's it. That's it. Well, you know, you'll have to keep us posted.
[00:35:12] Speaker E: Yeah, definitely.
[00:35:13] Speaker C: And let us know kind of where you are headed down the road. So thanks for being here.
[00:35:18] Speaker E: Yeah, thank y'.
[00:35:19] Speaker C: All.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: Yes, thank you so much. And then thank you, Henry, again for.
[00:35:21] Speaker C: Yeah, Henry, what was this like for you?
[00:35:23] Speaker D: Well, this was great. This was. It's very cool to kind of be on the other side too, you know, as a guest and as a co host and you know, just the bottom line is it's. It's really important to see all these different perspectives for mental health, you know, from my perspective, which was the, you know, the men's anxiety and kind of general well being aspect. And then Hannah with Belonging, Wellness and the Capstone Wellness Explorer Program.
It's just good to get all these different voices, you know, around this topic and, and you know, mental health is an issue that we have to recognize and, you know, the first step in finding a solution is talking about it and just bringing it to light and having these conversations. So just got to continue to do this and keep on going.
[00:35:59] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you. And you're the only one that's been on both sides.
[00:36:02] Speaker D: Well, look at that.
[00:36:03] Speaker C: Yeah. No, you're our first guest co host.
[00:36:05] Speaker D: All right. Yeah.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: You're as experienced as we are now,
[00:36:09] Speaker D: making some history in the Bama Balance history.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: But thank you all so much for listening. This has been a great episode and we will see y' all next week. I'm Edward Fountain.
[00:36:18] Speaker D: I'm Henry Glover.
[00:36:19] Speaker C: I'm Dr. Tony Perez.
[00:36:20] Speaker E: I'm Hannah Hurd.
[00:36:21] Speaker B: And we will see y' all later.
[00:36:22] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:36:39] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: This show was not intended as a substitute for professional counseling. Further, the views, opinions expressed by the show hosts or their guests are their own and not necessarily those of the University of Alabama, its officers or trustees. Any views, opinions or conclusions shared on the show do not create a relationship between the host or any guest and any listener, and such a relationship should never be inferred. If you feel you are in need of professional mental health and are a UA student, please contact the UA Counseling center at 348-3863. If you are not a UA student, please contact your Respect Protective County's Crisis service hotline or their local mental health agency or insurance company. If it is an emergency situation, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.
