Elevating Mental Health Through Experiential Learning at Clemson University

By Olivia Almeida and McKenna Miller

As the clock slowly ticks past 2 am, the exhaustion from the day’s demands weighs heavily on your shoulders. You are exhausted: between classes, work, and studying. The need to share the burden of your heavy mind becomes undeniable, yet you hesitate, not wanting to disturb anyone with these thoughts. In moments like these, the importance of mental health resources becomes glaringly apparent.

While the topic of mental health is becoming more normalized in conversation, stigmas relating to mental health remain due to misinformation, lack of information, and ignorance. This shortage of knowledge is a further problem if the lack of student following prevents students from being reminded of mental health resources at Clemson. Being unaware of Healthy Campus, a division of Student Health Services at Clemson, is an issue for students at Clemson struggling with mental health or needing extra support during their college transition. Healthy Campus resources are shared with first-year and transfer students during orientation, but continually reminding them of these resources throughout their college careers is essential. It is important to reach students through the faculty and Healthy Campus services. This past semester, two experiential learning classes partnered with Healthy Campus and the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation (OTEI) to address mental health issues in the classrooms and normalize conversations about mental health.

Ashley Fisk’s business-writing experiential learning classes have been working to combat this issue and to figure out new ways to destigmatize mental health misconceptions over the past few semesters. Fisk’s classes aim to expand the Healthy Campus audience to include more “involved students” and “harder-to-reach students.” Professor Fisk explains, “I have lived experience with mental health, and I sometimes share my journey with my classes. I do this so they see that it is okay to struggle, it is okay to focus on their mental health and that I do understand. Not all students struggle with mental health, but for those that don’t, it is also helpful for them to know how to talk about it and how to recognize signs among other students.” She is putting her experience at the forefront of class to bridge the gap between her testimony and an open conversation with students about the importance of mental health and that it is okay to need extra support.

Her class has worked alongside Taimi Olsen of OTEI and Delana Reynolds, Assistant Director for Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Initiatives for Healthy Campus. Their mission is to help better inform and aid Olsen in training the teachers on the importance of student’s mental health and to help Reynolds highlight the challenges of reaching “unreachable” students. Olsen explained, “OTEI is a small office with a big mission! We love getting help from students and faculty partners and collaborating with other units. This is too big of an issue for just one office to address.” This partnership with Fisk’s class allowed Olsen to expand OTEI’s mission outside of faculty and implement long-term goals for normalizing this information to faculty and students while also giving students an experience outside their textbooks.

Over the last few semesters, the students have created deliverables to help promote the new 988 hotline and CAPS department by creating campaigns and sample posts for Clemson Healthy Campus social media accounts. Initiatives have included collaborating with faculty to go “old school” and present in front of classes about the importance of mental health and creating content for a new Clemson Canvas course, potentially becoming a standard default on every student’s page.

Fisk’s classes focused on collecting data to help better inform themselves and their initiatives. The research demonstrated many of the students’ stressors correlate to mental health problems. The statistics showed that 28.4% of students are diagnosed with anxiety, and 20.6% of students are diagnosed with depression. In student interviews, students expressed that they wish for professors to understand the importance of stressors existing outside of the classroom and that school is not the only contributing factor to stress and anxiety. In a poll, over 30% of the students answered they are employed; they have financial worries and relationship stresses outside school work. The collaboration with Clemson’s Canvas page and faculty would be a way to tackle many issues and make significant strides in advancing mental health awareness and battling these student statistics on anxiety and depression.

Students in Fisk’s class shared their testimonials reflecting on their mental initiative experience. Many students had a transformative and favorable outcome with this project and spoke highly of the campaign. Jake Alder, a student in the class, articulated the business writing experiential learning class’s profound impact on him. Alder recognized that students thrive in a supportive academic environment, “A successful classroom environment calls for critical empathy of its participants. Students don’t just expect this out of their administrators, but they require it,” stated Alder.  

Sara Cook, another student in Fisk’s class, shared her experience with the class as one that has catalyzed her personal growth and self-discovery. Cook stated, “I have learned not to be afraid to speak up when there may be a problem or if I want to advocate for a change. This service also helped me realize some people truly care about my mental health and that there are resources out there to help students like myself succeed and be happy.” 

Reynolds recognizes the value of experiential learning in college, emphasizing its role in preparing students for the professional world. Reynolds added, “Initiatives like Ashley’s class provide a platform for direct feedback, allowing Healthy Campus to assess the effectiveness of their programs and increase buy-in from the student population.” 

In the lonely hours of the night, when the weight of exhaustion and stress feels unbearable, knowing that resources are available and that the conversation about mental health is being actively promoted can provide a glimmer of hope. It’s a reminder that you’re not alone, and seeking help is acceptable and encouraged.

For more information on Clemson’s Healthy Campus’ resources and initiatives, visit here.

Mental Health Testimonials by Clemson Students