On March 2, Jesuit Dallas held its inaugural National Day of Hope. Hope Squads members handed out fliers and TAG cards raising awareness about mental health. The goal of The National Day of Hope was to spread awareness about mental health throughout Jesuit. As well as, formally introduce Hope Squad members to the Jesuit community.
Hope Squad members did this by interacting with students and staff. Students wrote down something that brings them joy on a sticky note and then post it on cardboard. At the second station, students wrote down something that caused them stress. Then they would place the piece of paper in a shredder to let go of that stress. Students had the opportunity to meet all 15 Hope Squad members and advisors. Hope Squads members also passed out peppermints.
I had the opportunity to speak to two students and interview Jason Davis’ 21 regarding the National Day of Hope.
Henry Bryarly ’24 referred to the National Day of Hope as, “a great fun way to meet and interact with Hope Squad members.”
Blake Woodard ’22 referred to the National Day of Hope as “a meaningful experience to learn more about mental health awareness.”
Interview- Jason Davis ’21
How did the National Day of Hope increase your knowledge about mental health awareness?
“Well, I think one of the things that it really talked about was kind of was gratitude, the notes of gratitude, but also the release of stress. I thought the release of stress thing, despite my stressed nature and one of my being, I was uptight, I was reluctant to kind of engage with, doing, with doing that sort of activity. But I started to realize that, it’s such a big thing to release stress because stress is ultimately what keeps people like me feeling anxious, nervous, and angry, agonizing about what’s the common what’s happened in the past.
And so I think that the stress, the kind of this shredding up of all the worries is, is symbolic and expressive of how we really feel and how we want to feel. And so, because of that, I think that it allows you to alleviate your stress and kind of manage it on a day-to-day thing.
I think that mental health is kind of, again, it’s a cold task to face. And so because of that, you have to take, you have to take steps to approach it. And I think this is a very important and very crucial step to facing it.”
Did you feel the National Day of Hope did a good job regarding meeting and interacting with Hope Squad members?
“I think so. I mean, I got interaction from you and also, from Kevin. I think that the main time when I interacted with the hope squad during the Day of Hope was probably during lunchtime, I mean, the tables were very crowded and a lot of people were there.
My friends were at the table, and so they kind of influenced me, to try out some of the activities that you guys recommended. My main interaction was during lunch and it was very crowded, crowded, and busy. So it seemed like it was a pretty good interaction. Like you were attracting a good following.”
Do you feel the implementation of Hope Squad on campus is a positive change?
“I think so, but I think that there’s more that can be done. And I think that there’s more involvement that can happen. With Hope Squad, especially on such a huge topic of mental health and anxiety and depression and things like that.
I think that I understand why maybe it’s hard for Hope Squad to get right. I mean, it’s a new organization with new members and things like that. But I think that I think that as Hope Squad starts to grow and I think like it in growing notoriety and also, and respect, I think that Hope Squad has the potential to have a bigger impact, but I still think it’s a good chance.”
Thank you for your time, Jason
The National Day of Hope at Jesuit could be summarized as a great success as students had the opportunity to meet members, learn more about mental health awareness, and participate in spreading hope.
Stay tuned to The Roundup for more coverage of Hope Squad!
