In the blink of an eye, my time with mindyourmind has come to an end (for now, at least…). As I sit down to write my last official blog as Youth Liaison, I’m reminded that a lot can change in a year. 

When I first began working for mindyourmind, I had just graduated into the Covid-19 pandemic. I was thinking about maybe applying to grad school, knew I sort of wanted to move out of my family home, and soon realized that I actually needed to give myself time to think about these things. I had only vague ideas about the future, and so I was happy to be spending my present with mindyourmind. 

Fast forward a year, and I’m double-vaccinated and just came back from a month-long grad trip (finally!) from the west coast. I’ve been living on my own in an apartment for 11 months, and best of all, I’m moving again in three weeks. Outside my time with mindyourmind, I applied to schools and found out I got accepted to the University of Amsterdam. I’ll be doing a Master’s in Media Studies there for the next two years, and I cannot wait for the Netherlands adventures to come. 

But as we all know, life isn’t about the destinations, it’s about the journey along the way. mindyourmind has been a wonderful part of my life for the last year, and I’m so thankful for the experiences it has provided me between my undergraduate studies and my postgraduate degree. 

I got to work on a wide range of things here, from social media strategy and posting, to content creation, blog-writing, and interviews, to conferences and webinars. I co-facilitated three design labs (and half of a fourth!), through which I met some incredibly inspiring youth. I helped create some of mindyourmind's new resources, including our Elements book, the Stress Lessons game, and Design Lab 8’s Growth book. What a time! 

Best of all though, I met some great people who I will proudly call my friends for years to come. It’s been an honour to learn about and advocate for mental health, especially in collaboration with such kind, passionate, open-minded souls. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on this team, and for such a wonderful organization too. 

Thank you mindyourmind for being part of my journey, and I hope this isn’t the end end!