Busy Bee

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.
~Mark Twain

It's been quite a busy two weeks. Now that I'm sitting down and thinking about what I've done all week I can't remember...

...oh wait! Here we go, now I remember.

Earlier this afternoon Amy, Alison and I had lunch at the Suicide Prevention Action Network USA (SPAN USA) office across town. I was able to meet the staff over there, as well as the two interns who are the same age as myself. It was very intersting to see all the work they're doing with the policy-related issues of mental health and suicide prevention. It's a very good organization, and you can check their website out at www.spanusa.org.

With the end of the summer slowly approaching, things have been quite hectic. Many people think that because Active Minds is a college-based program, the office is very quiet and laid back during the summer months; it's actually just the opposite! From May to August is when the staff here is able to get caught up on all the work they don't have time to do during the school year, while they're trying to support the 200+ chapters. Sometimes it seems like it can't get any busier, and it does!

I've been able to get many things done over the past few weeks. We recently sent out a survey to all Counseling Center Directors that have an Active Minds chapter on their campus to see how well they work with the chapter, and if they have any questions/comments/concerns. After receiving a LOT of feedback, we are very excited! Many of the respondents held a very positive view of Active Minds at their school, and felt it benefited the campus and students. We'll be able to tailor upcoming events and changes that we make at Active Minds, based on the information we've been gathering, which is a HUGE leap in the right direction!

Last year Active Minds sent out a 2008-2009 Active Minds calendar magnet for the chapters to use. On the magnet, it had the date of all the events we support/produce as an organization, and a mini-calendar with all those dates highlighted. I've been working on putting together a magnet for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year, in hopes that people use it well. We just received a copy of the rough draft magnet, and from there we've made any necessary changes to it, so it will be easier to use.

The magnets will be distributed in the "Welcome Back" packet which is sent out in September to every existing Active Minds chapter. Along with the magnet, there are tons of materials we're adding to the packet, including:
- Fundraising packet listing numerous ideas on ways to receive donations from the student body on your campus, as well as a map showing where money goes once Active Minds receives it
- Conference flyers for our 6th Annual Mental Health on Campus Conference at George Washington University on Nov. 13-14!! (Go to www.activeminds.org and click "Programs/Events" to get your tickets now!)
- Standards packet which our Chapters Coordinator, Amy, says "it's everything, really"
- Information on veterans and mental health
- Ratings guide, explaning your chapter's star rating, and how you can improve the rating based on the current requirements

Needless to say, there's a lot to look forward to! We've also made massive changes to the Active and Developing Chapter Toolkits. We are trying to distribute these online as opposed to shipping the toolkits out by mail. If you're interested in looking at the toolkit, visit our website and click "Chapters". The new toolkits aren't up just yet, but they will be very soon.

The rest of the week will be just as busy as the past week. Conference planning has been in the works for the past month, and because it's slowly approaching the whole staff will soon be fully consumed in conference planning and all-things conference.

At this year's conference, the Student Advisory Council (SAC), will be hosting a "Mocktail" event on Friday night the hour before our keynote speaker and kick-off dinner. SAC is currently working very hard to bring everyone an amazing time. We have so many ideas and are looking forward to meeting everyone at the conference in November! If you have any ideas, or things you'd like to see at the conference, feel free to post a comment on this blog post!

I think that pretty much covers about 80% of the work - the other 20% are small managerial tasks that I'm doing around the office. There are always things to finish when you're working in a non-profit like Active Minds.

Alright, enough about work! Because of my post last week - which I actually can admit may have been a bit...morbid? - I decided to talk about laughter! When talking about suicide prevention and mental illness, people often get caught in depressing conversations. To save ourselves from this, I think it's good to try interjecting some humor at the end of the conversation. Laughter really can go a long way, and a lot of times people forget this.

I think Mark Twain's quote is truly accurate. When you're feeling upset, and there is a lack of humor in your day, the best way to remedy this is to help someone else cheer up. By doing this you're not only helping yourself, but someone close to you as well. Making another person laugh really makes people feel better (it works for me at least). So when you're having one of "those days", find someone you care about, or even a stranger who's having a rough day and cheer them up! It's sure to put a smile on your face.

In a way, this goes along with helping each other accomplish the same goal. Please remember to work together because we are all working towards a similar goal, so why not help each other out!