Sarah Wu is a second year Psychology major who seems to do it all. During her first year, she made a name for herself as VP External on SSMU’s first year council, sat on the SSMU Legislative Council as the first year rep, and worked with many different first year organizations (such as FEARC). She became the head of the outreach team on McGill/McMaster IGEM team, and was a part of both the informational outreach team and tutorials team on Medlife McGill and SOS McGill. On the outside, Sarah is Super Woman, but through this interview, Sarah reminded me she is also human.
University in general, but especially first year, in theory should be about exploring your interests, finding yourself, and all of the things that our parents told us. However, like the joke “Expectations vs Reality”, reality is a swift kick in the gut, as all Sarah felt in her first year was pressure to succeed. She was faced with questions of “How?” and “In what?”
Slowly, she started losing her sense of purpose. She hit a wall, and couldn’t deal with it.
“When you do so many things, you lose self care time. It gets pushed back because you have to go to meetings, then you have to study, and before you know it it’s 4am. So self care gets pushed back to the point where it stops existing. And that affects not only you negatively, but also your relationships with other people, and that just leads you down a bad road.”
We learn about symptoms of depression and how to recognize them in other people, but it’s a whole other ballgame when it comes to recognizing them in you. Sarah went to the McGill Mental Health Clinic this past summer and analyzed her emotions and emotional needs with a counsellor. “It was really helpful for me to talk to someone that I was not close with. I felt like I could share a lot more. Friends and family are wonderful to talk to, but they’re not the most helpful when it comes to stuff like this. I feel like people look at me differently after I tell them I have a therapist, but I feel like everyone should see a professional even if you aren’t struggling with any mental health issues. It’s really an amazing feeling to talk it out.” Reflecting on her first year, Sarah said her biggest regret was not looking up all the resources McGill provides in the mental health area.
The Mental Health Clinic is located in the Brown Building and is open Monday – Friday from 9am to 4pm. While appointments may take a few weeks due to the sheer volume of students, there are timeslots set aside each day specifically for urgent care. Besides that, you can always visit the local hospital emergency room. (No worries. If you’re like me and you don’t want to concern your parents, you’re legally entitled to have your visit be confidential.) Another great service provided by McGill, and specifically by our students, is Nightline. It’s a volunteer service that provides “confidential, anonymous, and non judgemental listening from 6pm to 3am every day during fall and winter semesters.”
After being through such a rollercoaster, Sarah did find a silver lining: her passion for psychology. She’s also now the Director of Advocacy for McGill Partners in Health. She’s still spearheading the outreach team on IGEM, and plus, she’s reading Russian literature in her spare time. In my, and many of my peers’ eyes, Sarah is still Super Woman.
Image obtained from the interviewee