COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Students at Texas A&M University are highlighting the importance of mental health and suicide awareness.
This week is put together by University Health Services each semester by collaborating with multiple on campus organizations to provide mental health resources to students.
“I’m really hoping that students are able to see our presence on campus as University Health Services,” said Alejandra Moreno, Graduate Assistant, University Health Services.
“I want them to know that a lot of times they may feel like they are struggling alone, but we are here to serve them. I want them to know they can access our counselors if they need to.”
Jan Padilla works as a health educator for University Health Services.
“Our main goal is to show that we are here for the students,” said Jan Padilla, Health Educator, University Health Services.
“Mental health is important, and we want to be a voice for the students, that we are here to support you guys and your mental health needs and raise suicide awareness.”
Part of his role and mission is to focus on campus reach and engagement.
“It’s a sense of unity and it’s one of our Aggie core values, collaboration and being together as a whole with the 12th Man spirit on campus,” Padilla said.
Alejandra Moreno is a graduate assistant for University Health Services.
She collaborated with her team to create an event serving an underrepresented community on campus.
“We created this new event called ‘Restricting access to lethal means, creating safer communities," Moreno said.
“In this event, our target population is anybody who has access to guns, whether you’re a Veteran, someone interested in going to the military, or you do it recreationally.”
This initiative will work directly with the new co-responder program and university pharmacist.
The overall goal is to ensure students are equipped with the tools and support they need to be successful while getting an education.
"No Aggie stands alone", is a campaign that A&M is pushing really hard and we’re working along with them because we really want the student body to feel like they are not alone, and we would really like them to participate with us and start collaborating with us,” said Moreno.
You can find the full list of events for students, faculty, and staff to participate in here.