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Not Just Academics: Writing Workshops Focus on Mental Health

In December, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a public health advisory regarding a growing mental health crisis among the nation’s youth. In the advisory, he called on educators to “expand social and emotional learning programs and other evidence-based approaches that promote healthy development.”

Since opening its doors in 2005, 826LA has framed writing as more than just an academic pursuit; it’s a path to social and emotional development. But the COVID-19 pandemic added another layer of need for a student population already living with the effects of poverty and systemic racism. Staff asked themselves, How can we best help students?

“I want to be more intentional about where we’re going with our workshops,” says Cecilia Gamino, 826LA’s Workshops Program Coordinator. “I want to change students’ relationship with writing, so it’s not just something they’re forced to do. It can be fun and collaborative and not follow rules. It doesn’t have to be on a piece of paper or in a Google doc.”

Working with local Teaching Artists, Cecilia curated a series of writing workshops focused on mental wellness. The lineup includes: First Generation Students & Mental Health; Personal Growth; Vision Board for the New Year!; Self Exploration: A Mental Health Creative Writing Workshop; Hack Your To-Do List; and a Mindfulness Workshop. As the titles indicate, the workshops mix practical skills with self-awareness and self-care practices. The series sets the stage for one of 826LA’s key goals for the 2022-2023 school year: to support the whole student.

Daisy Aguirre is a student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, who mentors firstgeneration college students. She is applying her experiences—both as a mentor and as a firstgeneration student herself—to teaching 826LA’s First Generation Students & Mental Health workshop.

In the workshop, Daisy creates a safe space by modeling vulnerability and talking about her own identity.

“I talk about my own parents’ expectations,” Daisy says. “I give students space to talk about their relationships with their parents, society, peers, and themselves. A lot of them say they haven’t even thought about their relationship with themselves. They’re shocked to think about it, and basically say, ‘I do what I need to do to get by everyday.’ I didn’t start that relationship with myself until I was 21, and I’m 22 now.”

Cecilia notes that the pressure on firstgeneration students to excel academically and financially sometimes pushes students’ other needs to the back burner—even though measuring success by career markers in a capitalist economy with large income gaps can be a recipe for unhappiness.

Cecilia observes, “I hope that youth, who are very self-aware and wise, will see the bigger picture, which is that you have to take care of yourself first.”