The McMaster Okanagan Office of Health & Well-being and Student Wellness Centre invited the community to explore new ways to support mental well-being
Thrive Week at McMaster has been celebrated annually since 2018. Each year, McMaster Okanagan Office of Health & Well-being and Student Wellness Centre dedicates a week to raising awareness and fostering conversations about mental health. This year's initiative took place from Jan. 27 to 31, 2025. Students, faculty, staff and alumni came together to participate in a variety of events focused on supporting mental well-being.
Thrive Week was organized in partnership with other campus organizations. For example, on Monday, Jan. 27, the libraries hosted an event called Library Pets at the Connection Centre in Mills Library.
Participants had the chance to interact with therapy dogs, offering a moment of relaxation and connection through animal companionship. This event was designed to provide a break from academics and an opportunity to de-stress, as studies have shown that spending time with animals can reduce stress.
On Tuesday, Jan. 28, another pet therapy event was held: Pet Therapy Visit with Biscuit. Students were invited to visit the dog Biscuit in the Health Sciences Library for some downtime and to experience the mental health benefits of interacting with therapy animals. To see more of Biscuit in the 2025 Winter term you can visit the PGCLL room 201 in the wellness lounge at these specific dates.
Another notable event on Jan. 28 was the Queer Study Buddies: Create Your Own Bookmark session. This event, a part of the ongoing Queer Study Buddies initiative, was held in a safe and supportive space in Mills Memorial Library for students from the 2SLGBTQ+ community to take a break from stress. Attendees could make personalized bookmarks while relaxing and all supplies were provided.
Wednesday, Jan. 29, featured an event titled How Can We Support the Mental Wellbeing of Ourselves and Others, hosted by Women & Gender Equity Network. This session offered practical strategies for supporting both personal and collective mental health. The event emphasized the importance of creating a supportive environment and included a discussion on the concept of collective care, a practice focused on communal support for mental well-being.
The event emphasized the importance of creating a supportive environment and included a discussion on the concept of collective care, a practice focused on communal support for mental well-being
Later that day, the McMaster Museum of Art hosted a Collage Button Making Workshop. Participants were given a tour of the Ascending Horizons exhibition before taking part in the button-making activity. This hands-on workshop allowed attendees to engage creatively while providing an opportunity for social interaction and stress relief.
On Thursday, Jan. 30, the Student Wellness Centre Health Promotion team organized a Sunset & Hot Cocoa Walk from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., beginning at the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning. Participants were encouraged to bring their own mugs to reduce plastic waste as they walked and enjoyed hot cocoa while watching the sunset. This outdoor event promoted relaxation, physical activity and environmental consciousness.
Thrive Week concluded on Friday, Jan. 31, with the McMaster Social Science Society Wellness Fair in the McMaster University Student Centre Atrium. This wellness fair featured a range of activities and wellness resources, allowing students to explore different ways to support their mental health. Participants could engage in activities such as gratitude crafts and bracelet making and visit booths set up by various campus wellness organizations.
Throughout the week, the events provided a diverse mix of opportunities aimed at promoting mental well-being for students to engage in. Whether through creative outlets, social interactions, or therapeutic experiences, Thrive Week highlighted the importance of taking time to care for one’s mental health.
Thrive Week highlighted the importance of taking time to care for one’s mental health.
To learn more about Thrive Week, McMaster Okanagan Office of Health & Well-being, the Student Wellness Centre and their resources to support students' mental well-being, you can visit their websites.
The Student Wellness Center is more than just a safety net, it's a proactive tool for building resilience and fostering a supportive community
With the increasing emphasis and research on mental health in recent years, the Student Wellness Centre has expanded its role to offer a variety of wellness programs. these programs work to support students at every stage of their wellness journey.
However, many mistakenly view these resources as a “last resort” for severe cases, overlooking the SWC’s primary role as a preventative and ongoing support system.
Balancing overall health can be extremely challenging while actively growing as a student.
Mental health is often neglected at the expense of deadlines and desires like staying up late to scroll on social media. With this neglect comes the misunderstanding that our mental well-being does not need to be consistently worked on.
Similar to how we try to stay physically fit through consistent efforts like working out, students need minimal effort ways to keep their mental needs met. The SWC is an underrated resource of the McMaster Student Union that is there to be part of your university journey.
Misconceptions and stigma around preventative care hinder the SWC’s aim to provide consistent and accessible support for students to thrive. Beyond counselling services, the SWC incorporates diverse therapeutic approaches like psychoeducation to help students manage emotions and stress effectively.
This approach shifts wellness from being something we think about only when we are particularly stressed to a long-term strategy. This can help students build resilience and maintain a balanced life alongside their university coursework.
Such preventative strategies engage students in actively identifying key stressors within their lives and building coping skills to adapt. This can prevent the buildup of challenges that might otherwise lead to burnout or severe stress.
This approach shifts wellness from being a one-time solution to a long-term strategy, helping students build resilience and maintain a balanced life alongside their university coursework.
The SWC’s reach goes beyond traditional mental health therapies, it includes sessions where students discover tools for self-expression and foster a sense of community. This supportive network is designed to empower students in their personal growth and well-being, emphasizing that help is there for everyone, no matter where they are on their journey.
This supportive network is designed to empower students in their personal growth and well-being, emphasizing that help is there for everyone, no matter where they are on their journey.
During the challenging transitions of university life, where students might be far from family and familiar support systems, the SWC is a place that students can turn to. It provides various community platforms for different backgrounds like women of colour and 2SLQBTQ2IA+ folks and works to foster an affirmative space to explore various aspects of your identity.
By engaging with the SWC early, students can build lasting habits that help them balance personal wellness with academic demands. Ultimately, the SWC is there for every student, nurturing a supportive environment where students can learn to thrive both academically and personally.
Although the model minority myth may seem like a positive representation of the Asian community, it fails to acknowledge the darker side of constant perfection
The model minority myth paints Asians as highly successful individuals due to their innate intellect. However, is their intelligence truly innate or does the pressure of conformity cause the Asian community to succeed in this standard? Society tends to view this community as perfect individuals that all racialized people should aspire to be.
However, is their intelligence truly innate, or does the pressure of conformity cause the Asian community to succeed in this standard?
However, the conceptualization of the Asian community as a "superior" minority group also isolates them from the broader racialized population.
This narrative has also been perpetuated in television as it reflects how society views Asians compared to other racialized individuals. For example, The Proud Family episode titled "Teacher's Pet" explicitly perpetuates this narrative that all Asians are high achievers with innate intelligence.
The model minority construct places the Asian community within a confined box where there is immense pressure to achieve success. Then to ensure success, Asian cultures tends to prioritize nurturing their child's intelligence, though sometimes to the detriment of other aspects of their lives, including their mental health.
Just as in any other community, there are those within the Asian community who may struggle in STEM-related subjects, while others may have challenges with the arts. However, for this community in particular, failure to live up to this myth can cause a disconnect between an individual's actual self, and ideal self, in turn further degrading their mental health as they may feel like they are not living up to their potential. Furthermore, to achieve this standard set forth by the model minority myth, people hide the areas they struggle in which leads to neglected mental health.
The model minority construct enacts harsher consequences on outliers, inducing stigma around mental health that prevents the Asian community from accessing the support they need. Additionally, this construct limits appropriate support for Asians as society sees their success and not their struggles. Why would an intelligent and successful population require support?
We also tend to overlook the socioeconomic barriers Asians face, hindering their ability to achieve the model minority construct.
The model minority construct especially can impact Asian individuals who experience adverse circumstances beyond their control; they are still expected to perform as well as their peers, or better, as the pressure to achieve perfection remains constant, even at the cost of their mental health. Success is the only option, leading their needs to be overlooked as society fails to see beyond the model minority myth.
However, by acknowledging that this myth often does more harm than good, we can work towards rewriting the dominant narrative and creating a safe space for people to relieve the pressures of perfection.
The Proud Family reboot, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, aired "Curved," an episode paralleling "Teacher's Pet." During the lunchroom scene, Penny frantically asks the Chang Triplets to join the debate club, thereby perpetuating the dominant narrative. As Penny is desperate to win the debate competition, it is implied that Asian individuals will give her the best chance of succeeding due to their intellectual superiority.
However, as we grow more aware of the dominant narrative, we learn to resist it. "Curved" demonstrates this as the Triplets confront Penny about perpetuating the model minority construct. Rejecting Penny's requests demonstrates that each triplet holds interests beyond stereotypically academic activities associated with the model minority ideals, reinforcing that society should recognize individuality rather than the stereotype.
Similarly, we can resist the dominant narrative by confronting and educating those perpetuating it. Creating alternative narratives that showcase contrast to the dominant narrative creates opportunities for society to change its perception of Western constructs.
By acknowledging that this myth often does more harm than good, we are working towards rewriting the dominant narrative and creating a safe space for people to relieve the pressures of perfection. By allowing the Asian community to explore their interests and be who they truly are as opposed to what society expects them to be, it also opens the conversation on mental health and accessing support.
By Esra Rakab, Contributor
“University is a learning experience, it’s okay to fail.”
These words that are intended to comfort me echo through my mind at every instance of academic hardship. University is often advertised as a place for learning and self-discovery, but this narrative often only applies to privileged, higher-income students. As an immigrant student from a low-income background and challenges with mental health, I’ve always been perplexed as to how this wasn’t just a privileged oversimplification of the emotional, physical, and financial burdens that often accompany enrollment in university for students of lower income. After all, when students who are well-off fail courses or decide to pursue additional years of education, their families can often support that decision financially. On the contrary, a student struggling similarly with their education would not have that support to fall back on. With little support, low-income students must navigate an education system designed for students without such pressures and financial difficulties, and are thrown into a cycle where there is seemingly no escape.
Even with the Ontario Student Assistance Plan, numerous low-income families struggle to meet the yearly cost of university to invest in their future. OSAP is unforgiving of students who, often for valid reason, fall below their academic standing requirements. OSAP-assisted students often face familial, personal or financial challenges, which can manifest as academic hardship, since students lose the capacity or time to devote to their studies. Rather than supporting students in such extenuating circumstances, the institution punishes them through academic probation and OSAP reductions or cuts. What implication does this have on the well-being of low-income students, who are pressured to excel in university and graduate as soon as possible, only to be thrown into an increasingly competitive job market? While their debt accumulates and while finding employment post-undergraduate becomes increasingly difficult, the pressure to graduate quickly heightens.
As much as I desperately want to advocate that it’s okay to fail and learn from our mistakes, I have experienced whirlwinds of anxiety in thinking that my mental health might set me back a year to prolong my education or increase my loans and costs.
As a result, any effort to keep my grades sufficiently “competitive” came at the cost of my well-being. Despite this, I could not succumb to the exhaustion and anxiety because the consequences of performing poorly in school would be too great to bear. Institutionally, we are thrown into a cycle where we fall thousands of dollars in debt in hopes of finding a job, yet our education may become jeopardized while we try to stay afloat. Low-income students often also work part-time to help pay fees, but the time commitment comes at the cost of their education; students are locked into positions where their ability to meet standards of academic performance is hindered. Paradoxically, we may come out of university even more financially burdened than when we started, and must find a way out. This is a challenge that higher income students usually do not have to consider seriously, often allowing many of them to enjoy and excel in their education with little financial burden.
I cannot advocate that our grades don’t define us without acknowledging my hypocrisy when I criticize myself for falling short. We’re given little guidance on what to do with failure and how to succeed despite it; The only students who share their marks are “straight A” students; the only students who share their work experience share what positions accepted them, rather than what rejected them. The perspective skews towards one of communal success, while students who are struggling are left on the sidelines.
While individuals can seek support services, like by taking loans or seeking therapy (which is also paradoxically expensive), the solution needs to target the system. Changes in the university structure, financial aid, student support and a greater focus on permitting work-life balance may provide us with stepping stones, but these inherent inequities that lead to disparities in students’ well-being and success need to be addressed by institutions, the Ontario Student Assistance Plan and students benefiting from this systemic privilege.
I’m sick of falling prey to this system. For once, I want to be able to say, “It’s okay if we fail, we can learn from this,” and truly, genuinely mean it.
