Finals, AP exams, college decisions, and new changes in students’ lives come into play as students move up a year in their high school career and seniors move on to a new stage in their lives. With all of these stresses building up, mental health often becomes a later thought that is pushed aside. Because of this, Kind on the Mind rose from the pandemic to combat these struggles. 

This organization was formed as my Girl Scout Gold Award after seeing how mental health took a toll over these past couple of years. I have been in Girl Scouts since I was in Kindergarten. I want to spread awareness about my Girl Scout Gold Award Project, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. The mission of a Gold Award is to identify a problem seen within society and find a way to help relieve or solve it. 

Due to how it became harder to socialize and enjoy life as it was prior to the pandemic, it began breaking people down. As this became a continuously growing issue, 

I decided that this would be the proper topic for me to create my Girl Scout Gold Award project around. So, I created a social media outreach that deals with mental health and the stigmas around it.  Currently, I have posted my first podcast titled “Stresses as a Student,” which can be found on YouTube under the channel: Kind on the Mind. 

The first podcast episode addresses stress as a student, especially with the year winding down. There is information about what stress is, how it can affect students, how their futures don’t need to be filled with so much worry, and more. Mental health professionals were also interviewed to provide their insight on the impacts of stress and how to alleviate them.

When asked about different tips, tricks, and recommendations for students to destress before and after testing time, the most persistent advice from one of the featured mental health experts is you should “Take a deep breath. Prepare and study for the test. Drink water. Get a good balanced healthy meal. Make sure you get enough sleep. Ask for help when needed,” as shared anonymously by a mental health professional. And although this sounds like advice played on repeat as the testing season rolls on, it’s completely true. Physical well-being is just as important as mental and emotional well-being, so self-care at the end of the day is the key to success. 

With the year ending, stress and burnout become familiar friends that follow us for the remaining time that we have. After listening to the podcast, an anonymous 15-year-old male student noted that something interesting that he learned was “to journal your thoughts to prevent burnout” and “how to tell if someone has burnout.”

Senior Roderick Billedo, the podcast co-host, said, “Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.”

Although stress and burnout definitely become taxing on students’ minds, we know there are a plethora of other mental health issues and stigmas that need to be tackled. Because of this, my team and I will additionally be hosting Instagram lives, Q&A sessions, posting on Instagram and Facebook, and more. Especially with finals, AP exams, college decisions, and overall new changes in life for students, Kind on the Mind’s first podcast is definitely worth a listen!

Hyperlinked socials: https://linktr.ee/kindonthemind