By: Arfa Alvi
UNIVERSITY CITY, SHARJAH– The Mental Health Association at the American University of Sharjah, alongside various student organizations, encouraged well-being awareness during the Mental Health Festival last Thursday.
Students collected infographics on mental health, engaging with activities such as bowling, painting and jewellery-making, alongside dessert and tea.
Maryam Yaseen Khan, the President of the Mental Health Association, said the event felt like a movement toward openness and care on campus.
“I’d love to include more experiential and mindful spaces in the future,” she said. “Maybe a corner with meditations or a letter to write to your future-self.”
Khan hopes this event helps normalize mental health discussion within students and encourages similar events.
Zaynab Ghani, the Events and Logistics Coordinator of the Mental Health Association, said students openly discussing their well-being made her proud.
She added giving out brochures “to take back with them” alongside keychains and gifts, were for students to understand they weren’t alone.
“Some people don’t like to come up openly and talk about their mental health but the fact that they did, meant something,” she added.
