“Uhh no clue!”  I began my interview by asking what I thought would be an easy question. I knew the answer, so I just assumed that most freshmen would too. Of all my peers, only one knew the answer. My question was simply “Do you know where the University of Delaware counseling center is located?” Students’ responses ranged from “Yeah in Perkins, but I’ve never been in it”, a correct answer, to “Whaaaat? We have that on campus?” How could it be that our school offers us this great resource yet most students don’t even realize its existence? Is it because it is not well advertised? Afterall, we don’t typically hear about it in our classes and see pictures for it posted on the UD Instagram pages. Perhaps more students would venture to the counseling center located in upstairs Perkins if they knew it actually existed. 

Clearly most students, especially those I talked to know that UD supports students’ physical health. For example, we all know that the gym, home to machines and fitness classes exist. And of course, the dining hall offers healthy meals everyday. But what does our school offer to support the mental and  emotional health of its students? What is the point of having a counseling center if no one knows that it exists? 

I asked all of my interviewees one final question: “If you had $100,000 to be used on campus for a new program or building to benefit a student’s mental health, what would you do with the money?” Personally, I would create a building next to the gym. However rather than serve physical health, this building would enhance a person’s overall well-being. I envision this building having a calming atmosphere with indoor waterfalls, cozy seating and soothing music to relax one’s mind. Others suggested hiring more therapists so the  therapist to student ratio would decrease. Her reasoning, “we’d all get our own therapist to vent to, it’d be like having a mom on campus, I’d love that.” Yet another student suggested creating a personalized meal plan in which “you could give a certain recipe to a chef and they will cook you home cooked meals because it will remind people of home and their family traditions”. A final response was not related to the money, but rather about a program a student said he would like to see: “We all need mental health days sometimes, I shouldn’t get an unexcused absence for this. They need to change the policy.” Agreed.

After asking these questions, I was shocked by how many people did not know the counseling center existed. However, I became optimistic when I learned about my peers’ ideas for the future of mental health potential programs here at UD.