We had the fantastic opportunity to sit down with Basia Boron, Student Life Coordinator of the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) and organizer of the Fanshawe College Mindful Monday events. mindyourmind has been so grateful to be part of these events, and we are so grateful to Basia for the invitation. Basia is a student themselves, and in this interview, they talk about balance, taking on risks and opportunities and what advice they would give to new students looking to get involved. Take a listen to our conversation with Basia (“The Idea Guy”!) and be as inspired as we were.
Listen to the interview with Basia below the gallery. Here are the time stamps with the questions we asked.
0:05 – I wonder if you can start by telling us about yourself?
“My focus this term was mental health so I really want to start these mindful Mondays so we just have something to look forward to once a month on a Monday – come relax, do some fun activities, be in touch with your inner child.”
1:05 – When do you feel most like yourself?
“I’m a big hands-on person. When I’m being creative, I’m able to put my thoughts into my work!”
1:57 – How did you join the FSU and what made you want to join?
“I knew nothing and knew nobody, so I just have a complete fresh start. I’m like, this is a new opportunity for me, so I’m just going to take the most of it that I can. I feel like I have… I might as well open every door that I have and give myself these opportunities.”
“I might as well just put myself out there, no harm in it, and if someone says no the next person will probably say yes.”
4:49 – What started the Mindful Monday events, and why focus on mental health?
“That’s what I wanted to do. I want to get mental health talked about more and destigmatized, starting within the college and within our own office here… mental health and mental illness is just like physical health and physical illness. Even though we can’t see it, it still affects everyone.”
7:30 – With everything that you do, how do you balance it all?
“At the end of the day, I just go home and I try to leave my work at work and leave my school at school. My best tip that a friend told me is do your homework at school and leave it at school.”
9:30 – If creativity and creation are part of your self-care, how do you create the divide between home and school?
“I want to focus on what I like doing and focus on my creativity at home too.”
11:21 – It sounds like boundaries and routine are a large part of your self-care
“Whenever my mental Wellness is going down, it’s because I’m not being strict with my own boundaries or letting myself not say no. I find I have to say no because I say yes so much. I have to set this boundary for myself because I know down the road I may burnout, and I could have prevented it.”
11:45 – If you had the ear of every Fanshawe student, what would you tell them?
“You won’t get what you want if you’re not going to say it. [You] might as well communicate it, say it, put it out into the universe. You never know, what you say might just come right back to you.”
One of our favourite quotes from this chat was, “Most of my life I waited for opportunity to come to me, so this time around I’m going to go to the opportunity and create those opportunities for myself…”
Basia will be graduating from their program this April, and we are so excited to see what they choose to do next! Stay tuned to Fanshawe Student Union’s Fanshawe Student Union’s Instagram for the next Mindful Monday, and check in with Basia Boron on Linkedin or on Instagram @bboron.mp4.
Thanks Basia, for taking the time to talk with us!
