University of Maryland Chapter
Project MonuMENTAL
As college students working hard for our future careers, our studies, extracurriculars, and other responsibilities tend to overshadow our mental health. As pre-medical students, we are hoping to eventually help other people take care of their health and we can start doing that now by reaching out to our own community on campus to encourage self-care.
Project Monumental is an advocacy and awareness campaign started by AMSA in the spring of 2018. This project began with a week-long effort aiming to spread awareness for mental health illness on campus, and foster a sense of support among students who are dealing with them. The week was filled with a variety of stress-relieving activities and the creation of a variety of visual representations of the presence of mental health illness on campus with the help of community participation, in an effort to normalize and raise awareness.
Scroll down to see the highlights of this week!
As this week was successful in our intended goal, we decided to go a step further and will be developing a semester-long project that will be mapping the gradual progression of how students are feeling throughout the semester, like a campus mood-tracker to show students that they are not alone in their pursuits. Alongside this, we hope to collaborate with other mental health organizations on campus to create an event at the end of the semester which will facilitate an open dialogue among Terps about the stress that accompanies the student life. We as students deserve a supportive, encouraging environment and mindset, and this project hopes to take a step towards that.
We also hosted a fun blanket making events, where members made blankets that were donated to a children's hospital!
Addiction and Opioid Crisis
As future healthcare professionals and college students, we have a responsibility to be aware of problems in our community and to try and do something about them. The Opioid Epidemic is a devastating phenomenon that hits very close to home, and as such, we strive to take steps to mitigate its effects in our community. We are currently in the initial phases of Project Opioid Epidemic, and are pursuing several avenues. In particular, we hope to spread awareness about the epidemic on campus and in the local College Park community, as well as education about how to recognize and act when someone overdoses. We also hope to work with existing community organizations to provide as much support as possible for a student organization. It is important to recognize the importance of community and public health, as well as how widespread of an impact changes to relevant policies can make.
