Ginny, Shenzhen College of International Education

Balloons of different colors were hung all around the room, on which were hand-drawn smiley faces. Tables and boards were placed by the windows, each prepared with posters or little toys. Quiet and peaceful music entered the room from the two big stereos by the door. After school on October 10, World Mental Health Day, this room was filled with people, students and teachers, all coming to join our student-held activity on this particular theme.

“You matter to me.” A simple but strong slogan was printed everywhere on posters, badges and cards. Nowadays, many people suffer from mental disorders, such as depression, and are often told they are “simply unhappy” or “will feel better tomorrow.” The aim of the activity is to help us expand our knowledge of mental disorders and to cheer us up by playing games or accomplishing little tasks.

I walked to the first table I saw, and the student in charge cheerfully said, “Identify bad habits and good habits, and you can win one of these!” He picked up a card from many of them, on which was printed a line: Card for Eating Well. As a big fangirl of food, I took the task and won the card. At the next table, it was to create a drawing using sand, like we did in our childhood.

The reward was a toy that squeaks when you pinch it. After completing the drawing and giving the toy a few pinches, I suddenly felt joy flowing through my bloodstream, and all the anxiety I felt these days because of endless exams just disappeared. Turns out going back to being a 3-year-old can sometimes be quite pressure-releasing.

“Fancy some fruit?” A girl stood in front of a board asked us. “Eating always make people happy; at least this works for me. However, consuming too much food at a time or struggling to restrict our mouths to lose weight does not work for anyone! They are bad for your body, and sometimes there are no positive effects at all.” She delivered a small talk about eating disorders to us, which lead us to the next booth. We were asked to write down positive things on a piece of paper and put it into a box. In return, each of us had the chance to pick another one from the box. The encouraging sentences and pictures written by complete strangers in the box really made me feel the aim of the whole activity: “You matter to me.”

I walked out feeling relaxed and slightly happy and saw a big board, already pinned with millions of pieces of note paper. A bold and capitalized word appeared in the middle: GRATITUDE. It was for writing down things or people we are grateful for in our lives. My friends and I rushed to the board and yelled, “I will definitely write Sebastian Stan!” “And I will go for Chris Evans!,” who truly are the light of our lives and without whom, we wouldn’t have made it this far. We have also written down the names of our teachers, because they are brilliant people who have offered flawless academic education to us. I felt encouraged and filled with power for again realizing all of whom I posted on the gratitude board still exist and are helping me through difficulties.

The Mental Health Day activities were more than wonderful, for they provided me with solutions to mental problems and happiness in the day.