My mental health reached its peak when I arrived on campus. There are multiple reasons why I’ve struggled: financially, adjusting to college level work, finding community, time management, etc. All of my issues root back to systemic oppressions. I have struggled with my mental health for a large portion of my life, but did not have the financial resources to access professional counseling- not to mention that mental health has been largely stigmatized in my community. Being privileged to attend college, I realized I would have access to multiple services, including counseling. I was looking forward to internally finding solace in college as my mental health has always been consuming.
The first step was making the appointment to the Wellness Center which took me about three months to do as I did not feel emotionally ready. I eventually attended my take-in session, which is when the counselors try to understand your purpose of utilizing the center and match you with a counselor who best caters to your needs. At the ending of my take-in session, the counselor said, “I realize all of our staff is white, but we are working on making the staff more diverse.” In the moment, I was worried about potentially talking to a person who would not understand my experiences. However, I decided to proceed with finding a counselor and I attended the session with the matched counselor, but I left feeling more anxious. Instead of providing me with guidance, the counselor reminded me my problems were unsolvable and overwhelming. All the counselor could do was nod their head. How would one understand how to help me if they are not even educated about my identities?
The Wellness Center needs a staff that caters to the whole student population. This means there needs to be more representations of identities within the staff. The lack of representation signifies that the administration is not considering the needs of all the students. Mental health is experienced differently by students of color, especially being in a predominantly white institution where there is a constant battle to be heard and understood. The students of color should not be expected to settle for anything less than their white counterparts.