On October 13th, Grade 9 and Grade 10 students were divided into different groups heading for lectures concerning different topics about mental health.

The lecture held in the Zhentao Lecture Hall was about the analysis of general mental health. The lecturer started by asking students how they would rate their feeling right now from 1-10. She told the students about stigma, a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. She added that stigma is a normal part of human consciousness and allows us to process information faster but often based on insufficient information, creating fear and barriers. She moved on to talk about mental health and said that teens are immature, more impulsive, and do not think about consequences. Therefore, students need a minute to think about when they make important decisions. Also, mental health is a physical, daily, social, and normal thing—it is not insanity, and everyone is affected by it. She also talked about a famous mental disorder, depression—a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It overwhelms people and stops them from doing the things they usually do. She concluded that everyone should talk and know more about mental health.

Another lecture was given in the library on puberty and growth. Students learned that, during puberty, it is completely normal to start having an interest in love and relationships. However, before immediately diving into it, it is important to be aware of what makes a relationship healthy. Additionally, students were informed about physical and mental changes that might happen to their bodies as they are growing. Finally, the students discussed on “how to make sure that we are having a healthy relationship with our partners.” They concluded that listening and being honest are the key factors in building intimacy and trust.

There was also a lecture held in the Blackbox classroom about how to achieve healthy tech-life balance with better sleep, from which students learned a lot about time management. Overall, the lectures were very informative and helpful to all the Grade 9 and Grade 10 students.

(Written by 10(6)Mary Kwon, 9(11)Sabrina Lee Pictures by 10(7) Alicia Zheng, 10(8) Maya Zheng Supervised by Hazel Gu, Meijun Shi Riviewed by Qian Zuo)