ndra Michel recollects the primary College students of Coloration Symposium (SOCS) she attended. As a newly enrolled scholar, she left the daylong occasion with a sense of immense success and goal.
“I spotted then that [the Students of Color Symposium] is a extremely transformative expertise,” stated Michel, a senior learning psychology and group and utilized psychological research on the College of Miami.
This 12 months’s SOCS is being held at Lakeside Village from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The occasion will include workshops, facilitated conversations, and networking alternatives geared toward destigmatizing psychological well being and selling emotional and bodily well-being. SOCS gives an annual alternative for college kids to have interaction in dialogues on matters that have an effect on their instructional, private, {and professional} development.
The symposium’s theme, “I Select Me: Psychological Well being is Psychological Wealth,” will give attention to offering college students with the assist and instruments essential to navigate their faculty expertise whereas specializing in sustaining their psychological wellness.
“On this post-pandemic world the place individuals are experiencing social nervousness and different psychological well being stressors, particularly college-aged college students, the subject of psychological well being was actually necessary for us to focus on,” stated Michel, who serves as the manager chair of SOCS and works alongside a devoted committee of her friends to carry this system to life.
The convention opens with a panel dialogue bringing collectively practitioners to debate areas of their work with psychological well being and the way it intersects with racial and ethnic identities.
Attendees will hear from College consultants Eric Goldstein, sports activities psychologist for College of Miami Athletics, and Jacqueline Yi, doctoral intern on the Counseling Heart. Britney Clarke, alumna and supervisor, Primo Relations, Bacardi, and Dr. Stephon Martin, a wellness specialist throughout the Jackson Well being System additionally will be part of the panel dialogue.
Following the panel, college students and college and workers members will interact in interactive breakout periods that can educate them about natural sensory stimulation methods to handle emotions of tension and stress, and tips on how to create significant connections, find assets, and foster wholesome communities on campus.
The day continues with a keynote handle by Alex Elle, a New York Occasions bestselling creator, licensed breathwork coach, and restorative writing instructor. Elle, greatest recognized for her e book “How We Heal: Uncover Your Energy and Set Your self Free,” focuses on methods to construct group and therapeutic practices via the usage of literature and language. She will likely be joined in dialogue by Michel, the manager chair of SOCS, and Merissa Yancey, senior program coordinator on the College of Legislation.
The symposium concludes with a Psychological Well being Useful resource Expo geared toward connecting college students to on- and off-campus, low-cost, or free psychological well being assets.
“Being that psychological well being is a matter impacting our group at massive, it takes a group to work collectively to raise our current assets on campus to assist our scholar’s general psychological well being and well-being,” stated Kennedy Robinson, affiliate director of the Workplace of Multicultural Scholar Affairs (MSA).
Michel famous that this 12 months’s symposium was made attainable by the numerous campus companions who will likely be in attendance on Saturday to attach and assist college students.
“It’s not simply me, it’s a complete committee of scholars which are so devoted and so obsessed with what we do to assist each other,” she stated. “It’s going to be nice.”
The College students of Coloration Symposium is open to all college students on the College. Register to attend utilizing the code “SOCS2023.” Go to the Workplace of Multicultural Scholar Affairs for extra info.