The Bring Change to Mind Club presented in Syfufy Theatre during assembly today to talk about self-care and inform students about how to stay attentive to mental wellness.

“Part of the mission of Bring Change to Mind is to end the stigma around mental illness and promote mental wellness,” senior and club head Samantha Stovell said. “While mental illness is only applicable to a small group of people, mental health is applicable to everyone.”

Senior Izzy Gutierrez, who began the presentation, had students think about the stressors in their lives and shared ways to cope with these through self-care habits, including reading, taking baths and talking to friends.

“I learned that I need to take better care of myself,” junior Isabella Parmenter said. “I should prioritize treating myself well instead of putting pressure on myself.”

Junior Margaret Miller and Gutierrez, both club members, spoke about how they used to lack self-care and shared how they eventually became advocates for it. The club also passed out notecards for students to write notes of encouragement to a friend and for themselves to demonstrate the value of self-encouragement.

“If you can prioritize and love yourself enough to speak kindly to yourself and take care of your mind and body,” club moderator Annie Egan said, “then all those curveballs and tough times are just a bit easier to handle.”

Visual arts teacher Malisa Suchanya and modern and classical language teacher Cindy Ovares followed the student presentation by sharing their stories of landing as teachers at Convent.

“I think stress is correlated with our fast-paced world and our extreme views of what success is,” Stovell said. “I hope students will learn some techniques about taking self-care and start conversations about self-love because it is something we do not usually talk about.”