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“It’s amazing, because the more we talk about mental health and challenges, we give a name to it and just make it a casual conversation about health,” said Nova Browning Rutherford at the Manicures, Snacks, Wine and Talks event held on Jan. 21.
Rutherford, a personal development coach and motivational speaker, was the keynote speaker at the event. She was there to talk about the importance of maintaining mental health and provided some strategies for how to do this.
“I’ve been seeing a change on campuses as far as mental health programming goes, concerning women’s mental health issues,” said Rutherford. “This is an event that touches that in a really organic way. There’s manicures and food. It’s exactly what I needed when I was in college.”
Much of what she spoke about has been drawn from her own personal experiences. She suffered from depression between the ages of 21-25 while both working in the music business and going to school.
Rutherford outlined her three major tips for maintaining mental health: acceptance for who you are and who you aren’t, accountability – for the drama and successes – and action.
“The small wins count,” Rutherford explained. “You’re taking tangible steps every day towards the goal and supporting other people in the process.”
She also spoke briefly about Bell Let’s Talk Day and some of the events she would be involved with, including appearances on CTV Morning Live and the Social.
The calls, texts, tweets and shares on Jan. 27 helped raise a donation totaling $6,295,764.75 to mental health programs from Bell.
A variety of groups from the college were involved in the success of the evening. Volunteers from the esthetics program provided the manicures.
“At $10 for a manicure, you can’t say no to that,” said Mikhaila Leech, a first-year public relations student and one of the organizers of the event.
“We wanted to find something new, and this was a good way to bring people together,” said Alicia Hachey, an Algonquin graduate and former spokesperson for Spread the Net at Algonquin. “We couldn’t have done any of this without the SA.”
The proceeds from the tickets for the event will go to the Spread the Net campaign. The event raised $180 for the charity, which will be used to purchase mosquito bed nets and distribute them in Africa to help prevent malaria.