Starting the Conversation About Active Minds

Picture yourself walking on campus. You aren’t in any sort of rush since you just finished your last class of the day. You are walking in between the Carmichael Student Center and the campus green when something catches your eye: a backpack. You don’t think much of it until you realize that it’s not alone. Strewn all over the campus green, hundreds of backpacks lie. Students peruse the backpacks, sometimes kneeling to examine a backpack for what seems like an awkwardly long time.

Curiosity gets the better of you, so you approach the backpacks and soon notice every backpack has a small packet of paper and a picture. Scanning one of the leaflets, you soon realize that each of the backpacks splayed out in front of you symbolizes a student who has lost their battle with mental illness. Every backpack and every picture set out on the green in remembrance of a suicide victim; each story painstakingly written in the hopes that displaying these stories will prevent another one from having to be written.

This demonstration exists and is called Send Silence Packing. Send Silence Packing is a program that tours college campuses all around the nation every semester, bringing with it these backpacks and stories. Furthermore, Send Silence Packing brings awareness to everyone it reaches. It spreads awareness of the mental health and suicide struggles that plague students across the nation. Send Silence Packing is just one of the many programs to which Active Minds devotes resources to start the conversation about students’ mental health.

Active Minds is a national, nonprofit philanthropy dedicated to ending the stigma around mental health conditions for high school and college students. Founded in 2003 by Alison Malmon after losing her brother to suicide, Active Minds has over 550 chapters in high schools and colleges around the nation, including one here at Kennesaw State.

Active Minds at Kennesaw State

Active Minds has been around at Kennesaw State for a while, but only became active again in 2017. Chapter Co-President Patrick Thomas recalled how a good friend of his was a big driving force to jumpstarting Active Minds back up at Kennesaw and getting Thomas to join.

            “Growing up, I didn’t know too much about mental health,” Thomas said. “My sister suffered a lot with her mental health issues, so I didn’t really know how to handle it.”

            Since joining Active Minds, Patrick has learned a lot about mental health tips and signs, as well as a lot about himself.

            “I’ve been going to different events and I learned that I have super high test-anxiety,” Thomas said.

            Thomas always suspected something was wrong since he would freak out before and during exams, but he never really knew it was common or that it had a name. Chapter events at Kennesaw have information like this available, but Thomas is prouder of the atmosphere.

            “The main thing that I love about Active Minds, and the one thing I’ve heard from our members that they love, is that we serve as a safety net,” Thomas said. “Our events are homey.”

Active Minds on a National Level

Thomas, along with Co-President Simone Madden, Treasurer Miya Haney, other student leaders and faculty advisor Dr. Sheldon Rifkin coordinate with Chapter Manager Robyn Suchy at Active Minds’ national office to devise plans and design activities specifically tailored to KSU.

Suchy is one of only 13 full-time staff at the Active Minds national office. He has been involved with Active Minds for roughly 10 years now and has loved every moment of it. One of Suchy’s favorite parts of his job is communicating with the biggest, most consistent parts that comprise Active Minds: their chapters.

“Our mission is to empower young people to advocate for mental health and feel confident and comfortable talking about their mental health and their struggles,” Suchy said. “Something our executive director likes to say is that we are teaching the new generation how to lead conversations about mental health and mental wellness, and I feel that.”

Active Minds and NSCS

Thomas looks forward to collaborating with other organizations as much as possible starting next semester. As a marketing student, he knows that collaboration is a great method for increasing awareness for each of the participating organizations. One such collaborative effort could be with an Active Minds partner organization and honors society that also has a chapter at KSU: the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Kennesaw NSCS President Amelia Hodge, and other NSCS officers have excitedly talked about working with Active Minds at KSU to bring Send Silence Packing to campus.

“Being a student who struggles with mental health and having lost several friends and family members to suicide, even the promotional video for [Send Silence Packing] is moving,” Hodge said. “I’d just love to bring the real thing to Kennesaw.”

Hodge also serves on KSU’s Student Government Association as the senator for students with disabilities, so she has strings to pull for fundraising the $5,000 necessary to bring the demonstration to campus.

The Future of Active Minds at Kennesaw State

Thomas, a senior this year, is dedicated to preventing the chapter from going dormant once he and the other student leaders graduate. As a result, Active Minds at KSU is also looking for students to fill open officer positions for the coming semesters. Although he will be graduating soon, Thomas plans to keep in contact with the new student leaders and Dr. Rifkin, so the organization is looking for active members to rise to the occasion to lead the chapter and keep it alive.

“As an organization, member-wise, we’ve always been growing,” said Thomas. “Going forward, we’re looking at who’s going to be serious about this.”

Everybody is impacted by mental health struggles in one form or another. If you want a space to talk about your struggles or just want to learn tips about dealing with mental health problems around you, then joining Active Minds at KSU could be the perfect opportunity you didn’t know existed. For more info on Active Minds and mental health, check out their website.

Kennesaw State SGA Meeting – December 2019

Kennesaw State University may become the first public university in Georgia to affiliate with the Worker Rights Consortium after the Student Government Association voted on Dec. 4, endorsing the affiliation.

According to their website, the WRC is an independent, international organization dedicated to monitoring labor rights and working conditions, especially in the clothing industry. The initiator of the endorsement movement was Senator for the College of Humanities & Social Science, Andrew Wittmayer.

“There was polling done on both campuses,” Wittmayer said. “96 percent of [polled] students support this affiliation.”

Wittmayer explained that a total of about 275 students were polled across both campuses. Support was overwhelming on each campus, with 126 Marietta students and 139 Kennesaw students voicing their support for affiliation.

Wittmayer also planned out how to pay the $1,500 affiliation fee without students having to worry about shelling out more money to the cause. Once affiliated, the WRC will investigate the businesses from which the university buys its products to ensure the products are ethically sourced. Although the WRC has no authority to force change in the case it finds any unethical sourcing, historically, institutions have followed the advice of the consortium to avoid backlash from consumers.

“It would put Kennesaw State University on the map and let the other universities in the state know that we are buying apparel that is ethically sourced,” Wittmayer said.

After some brief discussion, Senator for the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering & Engineering Technology, Vincent Coakley, moved to vote on the proposal and was seconded by Senator for the College of Science & Mathematics, Abigail Maurer. The vote was unanimous with Senator Wittmayer being the only abstention.

Once affiliated, KSU will become the only institution in the University System of Georgia to partner with the WRC and join Spelman College as one of the only two affiliates in the state.

Some other business also took place at the last general body meeting of 2019 as the officers approved a bylaw revision proposed Director of Procedural Operations, Renard Snell. The revision impacts section 7.3.1 of the SGA bylaws that previously stated that officer demerits and strikes would reset every half-year, at the beginning of each spring and fall semester.

The revision adds a clause that, in some circumstances, if the procedural operations director and the Governance Committee come to an agreement, then an officer’s demerits and strikes can roll over, or remain, in the next semester.

“There were some things that didn’t get handled like they were supposed to in a timely manner,” Snell said.

This revision aims to hold the officers more accountable for their duties. One example Snell gave was if an officer purposefully did not complete their last officer report and took a strike, because they knew it would be wiped at the start of the next semester. That officer would then be at risk of having their strikes and demerits carried over into the next semester.

“In an organization like student government, accountability should be one of our biggest priorities,” said Vanessa Benitez, the senate lead of the Kennesaw campus. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re seeing that this semester, so that’s why these revisions are coming up.”

After discussing the issue for a while, Senator Coakley moved to have a clause added to the revision stating that, the officer must be notified in advance if their strikes and demerits would carry over into the next semester.

In addition to this motion passing, the new revision was voted on and passed and will take effect in the spring.

With the end of the semester approaching and election time drawing nearer, President Samuel Brand appointed a new Elections Chair. Molly Trantham, an outgoing senior, was approved by the senate to take over as the elections chair for the next election. Trantham will form a committee to oversee the election. The election bylaws were also voted on and approved by the senate.

Finally, near the end of the meeting, Senate Lead Benitez announced that she will step down from her position to truly embrace the time she has left at college.

“I’ve been in SGA since I’ve been in college, so it’s time for me to close this chapter of my life,” Benitez said. “I have one year left in college and I want to spend it like I have one year left in college.”

Though it was an emotional moment, Benitez gave thanks and praise to the association she had given so much time and effort to.

If anybody else had any other announcements, they held their tongues because nobody wanted to upstage Benitez and her heartfelt goodbye. The meeting drew to a solemn close and with it, the 2019 chapter of SGA at KSU.

How to Choose the Perfect House Plant

Pet owners know the challenges and difficulties that come with caring for animals. From the cost of adoption or breeding to the upkeep costs to the time and effort commitment necessary for basic training and care, owning and caring for a pet can be costly and stressful. What if you could gain the benefits of pet ownership for a fraction of the cost and a modicum of the effort required to take care of a pet? House plants are inexpensive substitutes for animals and provide health and lifestyle benefits similar to those of owning a pet.

However, unlike looking for the perfect pet for your home, the perfect house plant won’t jump out at you. It takes time and effort to go about researching and locating the ideal plant suited for you and your home. If you need to spice up your life and flare up your living space, it is likely that a house plant is exactly what you’re looking for. Use the following tips to guide your research efforts.

Tip 1: Lifespan

The first factor to consider while exploring the vast array of house plants to choose from is lifespan. There are three descriptors that delineate a plant’s lifespan: annual, biennial, and perennial. HGTV defines these terms as follows:

  • An annual is a plant that lives for just one season. Whether you plant from seed or purchase seedlings to plant, an annual will sprout, flower, seed and then die — all in the same year.
  • Biennial plants grow for two seasons but won’t bloom until the second year.
  • Perennials, on the other hand, live for three or more growing seasons.

Annuals, such as some species of the beloved geranium, can be more problematic to care for indoors than out because of their flowery nature requiring more light than perennials. As a result, they are often planted outside in the spring and brought inside for the winter in a process called wintering or overwintering. Perennials, like the ever-popular succulent, aloe vera, are often viewed to be much easier to care for.

Tip 2: Choosing the Proper Soil

The tricky part about aloe brings me to my next topic: soil. There are many different types of soil that plants require or thrive in. Aloe and cacti, for example, need a specific cactus potting soil mix, which is mainly sand mixed with loam and a bit of peat to create the ideal concoction of nutrients and the right amount of drainage that these plants need to flourish. Thompson and Morgan have a great article describing different types of soils and providing examples of flowers that burgeon in each soil variety.

Tip 3: Water and Sunlight Requirements

As emphasized above when talking about aloe and cacti, drainage is one of the most crucial properties of soils that prompts the next topic: proper watering. Soil selection and water requirements work hand-in-hand. For example, though aloe plants and cacti need to be planted in soil with good drainage, they still need to be watered correctly or else they will dehydrate and die. Coincidentally, if the same plant were to be watered properly in soil without the required drainage, the plant will drown. This guide from House Plants Expert provides good information and tips on how much water to give as well as distinct watering methods for different types of plants.

Additionally, you must be aware of how much sunlight different plants require. Some plants may not be able to live in the same conditions that you can. As such, you need to research light requirements for plants to determine which plants you could feasibly raise. Luckily, House Plants Expert has a guide for this too! The article also discusses using artificial lighting, which can be a decent substitute in less sunny regions or during darker seasons.

Tip 4: Overall Commitment

All the tips up to this point will indicate the total commitment level you should be prepared to make to raise your house plant. It is critical to choose a plant in which you will be able to commit the necessary amount of time and effort to raise. As a rule of thumb, if you cannot commit much time or effort, you should look into getting a succulent or a cactus. If you are up for the challenge of raising a colorful or good-smelling plant, check out these flowering plants. Of course, it’s up to you to pick a plant that you can care for, so do your research and be ready to make the commitment.

Final Remarks

One of the last things to keep in mind is potting your plant. You must have an appropriate-sized pot for your plant. If you don’t know what that size should be, there are plenty of resources online and, if you are shopping for your plant in-person at, for example, a Walmart or Lowes, garden center employees that can give you advice. Once you have your pot and plant, potting it properly is critical. Follow this guide from Lifestyle Home Garden or watch the video below if you aren’t sure how to pot your plant. As always, if you forget something or just don’t know an aspect about taking care of your plant, the internet is your friend.

Take care and happy planting!

Playing Cards Project

This is the largest design project I did in high school. I designed a deck of cards based off of the League of Legends “Arcade” skin line. Furthermore, I designed and produced a deck box (but not the cards themselves, as our teacher wasn’t trying to torture us by having us cut out 54 individual playing cards). The card backs and box had a similar checkered background but were purple and pink instead. Though modeled after the assets in League of Legends, I created each of the assets using Adobe Illustrator.