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!

Just...Breath...

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.
~Oprah Winfrey

Disclaimer: I never thought I'd see the day that I quote Oprah, but I really do like this quote. However, I'm sure my mother will thoroughly enjoy this as she watches Oprah quite often.

Anyways...

This week has...literally...flown by. There has been SO much to do, with so LITTLE time. I've worked on things ranging from creating the 2009-2010 magnet, working on various things for our Alumni Active Minds students, to creating a list of "Who's Who of SAC" for our November conference. I feel like I can go on for a while, but I'll stop at that.

Sitting here reading the quote made me realize how little I stopped this week to just appreciate life. So I figured I would share my thoughts (assuming you want to hear them), on why I think we all need to stop throughout the day to just breath.

Life moves too fast. Everyone is so concerned about what's going to happen in the future without taking a step back to look at the present. However, how do you define the "present" anyways? By merely sitting here, thinking of what to type next, I'm letting the present slip by as I think ahead to the (very) near future - and typing what comes to mind. No one truly stops to think about what they're doing at that very moment - it's always "what's going to happen in 5 minutes?" or "what will tomorrow bring?"

If people stopped every-so-often, even for a measly 30 seconds, they would be able to get a better grasp on the present. Once someone becomes more aware of their surroundings, they will become more aware of the problems their relatives and friends have run into; thus, they may be able to prevent tragedies such as suicide and the rapidly increasing cases of depression. Society as a whole needs to start looking after one another; you never know when you'll be the one asking for help.

Once in a while, stop. Just take a short pause in the middle of the day. Take a deep breath; in through your nose, out through your mouth. Wisely make use of the time you have while you've stopped. Think about what you're doing, and all the things you'd like to do; all the people you'd like to talk to; every issue that matters to you. Once you've done this, restart and focus on those issues. Try to change what you see wrong throughout the world. Pay special attention to the people around you and always make sure you are there for them, and that they know you are there for them.

One more thing. Always, always, always make sure that you tell those you love that you do, in fact, love them. Too many people leave home in the morning after an argument, or end a conversation on the wrong tone. You truly never know what might happen in the future. This is something I've learned working as an EMT. Ask anyone that works in Emergency Medical Services - you never really know how the day will end. Too many times we go to a call, and there is nothing we can do for a patient. Before you leave the house in the morning or hang up the phone with a loved one, make sure to tell them you love them.

I guess this has started being my little "sign-off", so remember that we are all working towards a similar goal, so why not help each other out!

Surveys and Such

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value"
-Albert Einstein

The past week or two have been extremely busy around the office. Between Heather leaving last week and the fact that Amy and Erin, two of our three Chapters Coordinators, are leaving within the next few weeks, the office has been buzzing with last minute projects and tying up any loose ends.

With Heather leaving, most of my work last week was focused on helping her finish up whatever projects she was working on. A major project was getting together a fundraising packet that will be sent to all chapters at the beginning of the school year. This will be a great tool for chapters to use when they are in need of funding, however it will be even better for those chapters to raise money for the Active Minds main office in D.C. As I've said, in this economy many non-profits need any help they can get, and we're hoping our 200+ college campuses can pull through and help us financially!

Last week was exciting because we're trying out some new ideas. We spent a majority of the week creating a survey for Counseling Center Directors, as well as one for chapter advisers, which will be e-mailed to them today. This survey is going to be extremely helpful in getting feedback from schools that have Active Minds chapters on their campus. We really push for chapters to work closely with their counseling centers, however not everyone is as accepting of Active Minds on their campus as most counseling centers. We want to know the underlying cause of this - is it miscommunication between the chapter president and the counseling center? Or is it a misunderstanding of the goal of Active Minds?

Many people think Active Minds is a peer-to-peer mental health group which it is not. It exists to de-stigmatize mental illnesses so people are more willing to come out with whatever problems have risen in their lives. This is done by bringing events to campus such as National Stress-Øut Day, National Day Without Stigma, and Mental Health Awareness Week (among others). We encourage all our chapters to produce these events on their campuses, because they can truly change a student's life by making them feel accepted in the community when they were feeling low and depressed.

Another exciting project that's just recently started is an Alumni network! This is a group being formulated by two of our Student Advisory Committee members - Asher and Amanda - that we are hoping will keep everyone in touch who has helped Active Minds along the way to the success we are seeing today. They are still trying to solidify the details of how the Alumni network would work, so if any has any ideas or comments feel free to let us know! You can do that by hitting the "comment" button on the bottom of this post, or e-mail me at jeremy@activeminds.org.

At the end of last week three of us took a trip over to visit George Washington University to check out some facilities. What a gorgeous campus GWU has, and their classrooms are so modern and technologically up to date. The people we met with were so warm and welcoming that we are so excited to work with them on conference planning. If you're planning on joining us for the conference you can buy your tickets today on our website at www.activeminds.org by clicking on "Programs/Events" and "National Mental Health on Campus Conference". The conference is open to anyone, so definitely join us! This year's conference is titled "Uniting Voices, Inspiring Change".

This year we're trying to focus the conference on Veterans and mental health. With so many veterans of our armed services coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq this is becoming a huge issue. There needs to be more resources out there that are available to veterans so we can ensure their mental health. Many veterans come back feeling hopeless and all they need is a shoulder to lean on and someone to talk to. Obviously they might not want to share their experiences, but knowing they have that option is what matters most. We need to focus on the brave men and women to ensure that we give back to them just as much as they've given to us.

I think this post's quote is truly wise and inspiring. So many people work towards being as successful as possible. Einstein captured true success in his quote - if someone works towards becoming a valuable part of our society in whatever way they see fit, that is how one becomes a successful person. It's not through monetary wealth or becoming a CEO or President of a company but how you are effecting the lives of others and how closely you live your life in relation to your personal values. If you stand by those values, then that is success. So, don't look for the job that makes the most money or one in which you only care about telling people that you're the CEO of a corporation. Rather look for the job in which you can carry out your personal morals and values.

With that, always keep in mind that we are all working towards a similar goal, so why not help each other out!