Through my time at the University of South Carolina as a Changing Carolina Peer Leader, facilitating the learning of others has been a part of my job description. Mental Health has always been considered a taboo or sensitive subject. This proved too true for comfort when I began giving presentations on Stress Management and Mental Health to classes of incoming freshmen.

 

When attempting to teach new information, the starting point is communication. You need the raw information and a plan on how to deliver it effectively. By effectively communicating facts, the learning of others is facilitated, and hopefully the information that we have passed on is actively used in the students’ lives. The key factor that connects the learning of the information to actively using it is if they find it relevant in their lives. In an effort to make the information more relatable, peer educators (such as Changing Carolina members) primarily fill this role.

 

To become a part of Changing Carolina, a Practicum in Health Education course with Marguerite O'Brien was required. The most relevant curriculum of this course for the presentations that I give was information on eating disorders/body image, stress management, and mental health disorders. Raw information for this Stress Management and Mental Health presentation includes definitions of stress, what can happen to your body as well as your mind when stress becomes overwhelming, statistics on mental health disorders, and resources on campus to help people cope with different stressors before they become a mental health concern.

 

Learning how to effectively present this information became critical, but that is not as easily taught in the classroom. Mental Health is a topic that no one likes talking about. Society has created a stigma around this topic that makes it seem like it is not normal for people to experience anxiety, depression, or even overbearing stress. Society has associated Mental Health with the word “crazy,” and this is why how these presentations are given is so important.

 

When I first began giving this presentation, I would present straight from the script and I was finding that students were not very engaged. What I soon realized was that each presentation needed to be a little different. You must tailor your presentation to the class you’re giving it to. How to do this cannot be taught in the classroom. In class, you are taught how to give a presentation, tips on how to get students’ attention, and even how to handle difficult questions, but the fact is, none of this matters until it is all applied together. Each presentation you give requires a different amount of each of these skills based on the students in the class and the information that is being taught.

 

What I found was that the key to helping the students learn was to open them up a little and get them talking. Instead of giving them the definition of stress, you ask them what they think about when they hear the word stress. Instead of telling them that many people don't seek help for their mental health because of stigma, tell them that 54 million Americans experience a mental health issue in a given year and ask them how many of those people seek treatment or help. I bet when you tell them that fewer than 8 million out of the 54 million people needing help don't seek it, it will have a much stronger impact than simply reading a fact to them.

 

The knowledge and experience of facilitating the learning of others, as well as being a student myself, has taught me enormous amounts about what it means to actually be an exceptional student. Teaching others has taught me to distinguish between what I actually know and what I do not understand completely. It has also taught me the importance of organization in your studies. I have seen what it takes to teach others effectively, so that is how I approach teaching myself and personally gaining more knowledge on a subject. Being that I enjoy teaching others, I have found that helping my peers understand a subject and become better, helps improve myself as well.

 

These are things that cannot be taught in a classroom. Experience is a key in learning and in this case, teaching. These experiences have allowed me to reach nearly a thousand students and give them the knowledge and campus resources to deal with these challenging topics that are not as easily discovered or talked about in day-to-day life. Effectively engaging students while teaching them valuable information is most definitely a challenge, but once you have learned how, it is a priceless skill.