“Stay up all night at TRSM for mental health”: CAMH: One Brave Night Event Recap
“It’s time to share your feelings!” The evening started with TRSS At-Large Director Adam Lee Him exclaiming that statement into a mic. And he was not wrong.
CAMH: One Brave Night is Ted Rogers Students’ Society annual overnight event that highlights resilience, wellness, and mindfulness. With workshops, activities, and Ted’s Kitchen’s food, the night was filled with many opportunities to de-stress and enjoy each other’s company.
The TRSS President, Brad Wells, commenced the event with opening remarks and a big thanks to everyone who came. “The goal tonight is to stay up all night at TRSM for mental health,” he said. “But before we begin, I want to hear why everyone came tonight.”
“To have fun!”
“A break from studying.”
“The free stuff.” That one got some laughs and sounds of approval and agreement.
The main sponsor of the night, Sephora, held their own workshop hosted by Amy Harper, to talk about building routines for individual skin types. Touching on determining skin types, skincare products, and helpful tips, students left the workshop more educated on skin wellness and their own Sephora gift bag with some goodies, including a face mask or facial cleanser.
Marketing Management Alumna Tamara Paiva led a session called Breaking Down The Walls, where she emphasized a safe and supportive space to discuss success and the hardships behind it that many don’t see. How to switch tasks (and avoid burnout) one of her slides read, something many of us forget to prioritize amidst exams. Tamara also highlighted asking for help. She made it very clear that asking for help has no shame in it, and that without it, you can’t get far because the stress will remain within you. It’ll be a slow process, but with time, you can get better at it. She ended her session with words of affirmation. “Repeat after me: I am strong. I am wired to win. I got this. I embrace uncertainty. I am not my thoughts; I am what I do. I am relentless. I am doing the best I can.”
The conversation circles were more on the intimate side of things. Sitting in a classroom, students sat with sticky notes and pens in front of them, thinking about the two questions posed to them: what does mental health mean to you, and why is mental health awareness important to you. Remembering the statement made at the beginning of the event, students volunteered to share their thoughts one by one.
“If it weren’t for my experiences and the help I got through Ryerson, I wouldn’t be standing here right now, sharing my journey with you all.”
“Having these conversations invites more people to join in on the conversation.”
“Put yourself in a good space and you’ll realize that at the end of the day, your feelings are validated and that you’re not alone.”
The session ended with sticky notes filled with words representing the relationship students had with mental health. Those stickies now sit with the TRSS sign by the office on the 8th floor. Swing by, read some of your peers’ thoughts, they may not be too far from your own. That was one of the defining ideas of the event: as often as you think you’re alone and that there may not be someone who truly understands you, it is very rarely true. Through chats with one another, we learned that our worries are not all that different and sometimes, it just takes that little bit of conversation.
In between the scheduled workshops, spread across the 7th, 8th, and 9th floors were tables and rooms with activities like painting, board games, karaoke, cup pong, and giant Jenga. Students joined in on random games, met new people, and unknowingly gave themselves a break from all the busyness of exam season.
One of the last segments of the event was Hot Ones. TRSS Special Projects Managers Eric Bang and Husnaa Zamarai organized and hosted the event where the 2021–2022 TRSS Executive team talked about their accomplishments, their committee’s work, and their professional and academic relations, all while eating some spicy wings. In between sips of water and fiery breaths, the executives got the chance to reflect on their journey and what they’ve learned from their leadership experiences. Their individual episodes will be up on the TRSS Instagram page soon, so look out for those!
As the night (or technically morning) came to an end, everyone gathered together one last time. “We know how important Friday nights are to you all,” said Brad Wells in his megaphone, “but it means a lot that you all showed up […] and stayed back so long. Now let’s all get together for a quick group photo!” On the count of three, everyone yelled “CAMH” as photos were clicked, sadly ending the night, but also excited to go home and catch up on sleep.
