Students at Grande Prairie Regional College have a new place to get away from it all. The college has built a mental health room on campus called The Fold. Mental Health Counsellor Pam Dueck says the idea for the space was first brought forward by the student union at the beginning of the year.
“We did a little bit of brainstorming and came up with the idea to have a wellness space where students could just go to unplug; not do homework, not be on their phones, not be having student meetings or anything like that. Just to go have a quiet moment where they’re not engaged in anything.”
The room features lounge furniture, couches, colouring pages and coloured pencils, and other items like puzzles and legos.
Dueck says a lot of students had a hand in getting the room up and running. It cost around $2,000 dollars to furnish and that money was raised mostly through donations from the Student Athlete Leadership Team and the 2018 marketing class.
While some students have been taking advantage of the room, Dueck is hoping more will use it when fall the semester starts again.
“Student’s lives are very, very busy between academics and a lot of them are working… We wanted to create a space where they could just kind of go for a minute and just have some quiet time. I really would love to see every student stop in there at some point.”
The room is located next to Howler’s lounge and will be open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the school year.