Happy Thrive Month, UBC!
If you haven’t yet heard, Thrive is UBC’s annual month-long mental health campaign that aims to promote the Thrive 5. The Thrive 5 is UBC Wellbeing’s model that emphasizes how physical activity, sleep, healthy eating, giving, and social connection are five avenues to optimizing mental health.
In support of mental health this month (and every month!), here are 3 ways to you can thrive by staying socially connected:
1. Catch up with someone you’ve lost touch with
It’s common to lose touch with friends or family members, especially during major life changes, like starting university. Sometimes we can go weeks, months, or even years without contact, but know that it’s never too late to catch up with someone! Regardless of how much time has passed, it always feels good to be on the receiving end and know that someone was thinking of you. So, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask to catch up over a meal or even a phone call!
Credit: Paul H. Joseph / UBC Brand & Marketing
2. Join a micro-community
According to McIntyre et al. (2018), being part of a social group helps university students’ resilience against mental distress. The benefit of attending an institution as large as UBC is that there are so many “micro-communities” that make up the larger UBC community. What often comes to mind when finding a community is the idea of joining a club. While clubs work for many people, it’s important to remember that there are many other micro-communities with like-minded people who we can meet on a regular basis, such as:
- Residence advisor and floormates, if you’re living in UBC Residence
- Classmates and professors of your favourite classes, during office hours
- Volunteer or work organizations, whether it’s on-campus or off-campus
- Online spaces or forums, such as the Wellness Centre: Online
- Signing up for an intramural league as a free-agent or team, at the start of each winter semester
3. Attend drop-in sports
Sometimes it can be challenging to meet up with our micro-communities on a regular basis. An alternative way to gain social connection without too much commitment is drop-in sports! In particular, UBC Recreation offers volleyball, basketball, futsal, and badminton. What’s great is that drop-in sports are open to all levels, free for UBC students, and a great way to thrive by meeting new people and staying physically active! Interested? Check out the calendar of available timeslots for each sport here.
We hope these 3 tips help you thrive and stay feeling connected all year round. Speaking about social connection, feel free to attend any of the Thrive events this November that you can find here where you can bring your friends to and meet new people!