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Wellness Week is Ivanhoe Girls’ bi-annual celebration of mental health awareness. The whole school takes part in a special week of challenges, exercises and reflections to help foster resilience, joy and wellbeing. This year, Wellness, Health and PE Week was inspired by the Year 12 Prefect slogan “Let’s Own It”. Here, Senior Students reflect on some of the themes that were explored.
Own It Week was very valuable to me, and I especially appreciated the topic of “Owning Your Voice”.
Many of us can have doubts about what we choose to say to the world and whether it is right or wrong, which can cause people to stay silent and not share their beautiful voices. However, this theme reminded us all that we have something to say, and what we want to say matters!
In class, I often hear students saying; “this is probably wrong but…” or, “I don’t know if this is right…” only to then present amazing and interesting answers or input in class discussions. So many of us doubt our voices because we are worried that we could be wrong, but we need to trust ourselves and own our voices!
We need to share what we want to say and embrace our confidence to do so. Speaking up or out can be scary but Own It Week reminded me and many others that we have valuable things to say and that we deserve to be heard. We deserve to be proud of our opinions and use our voices to bring good to ourselves and others. Sometimes all we need is that boost or reminder from those who believe in us.
Caitlin Jack
Year 12
President of the SRC
I’ve always found it challenging to “own my individuality”. It seems to be a common misconception when expressing one’s self, that you are required to be all positive. Particularly in a world under social media’s spell, it is so difficult to separate yourself from the expectation that you must portray yourself favourably; but you must break out of the societal norms that have been placed on you.
As a generation raised immersed in a mass of opinion, we are all part of such a detailed network of reproduced ideas that it becomes difficult to distinguish our own beliefs from the cacophony. We are fed polarised information our whole lives, telling us how to think and act.
Society has taught us to be wary of anything that is different, and to shun difference. This attitude is reflected in our attitude to our individuality and characteristics. There is a pressure to suppress anything that isn’t the norm, and elevate that which is popular and considered acceptable. This causes most, if not all of us, to compromise who we are for the sake of others’ expectations. Or is it the threat to our own self esteem that pulls us into line?
I have spent most of my life, right up to today, prioritising the need to be accepted and popular. I’ve prioritised the perception of normality over my personal beliefs and passions. I have avoided like the plague, anything that may have led to judgement. It is something that has, without doubt, sabotaged much opportunity in my life.
Even when faced with writing this piece, my thinking was, “Why me? I’m not a suitable person to do this. I’ll most likely end up embarrassing myself”.
The most important aspect of “owning your individuality” is acceptance. Rather than aspiring to be someone or something else, accept the things, positive and negative, that make you, you. Your individuality.
Mia Kuhlmann
Year 11
As an athlete, I have had to rely extremely heavily on my body every day to get through trainings and to get me performing better than I ever have before.
Having a good relationship with your body is so important, and as both a swimmer and a person, it is something that means a lot to me. Swimming is a sport where you have to learn to be comfortable in your own skin and that can take a lot of practice.
After training for hours and hours in the pool, swimmers often sport broad shoulders, long arms and crispy hair. It can be an insecurity for us, because it does not fit in with the “ideal” body type.
It has taken a long time for me to learn to be comfortable with my body and how it may look different to others. Standing for hours on the pool deck in bathers has helped me understand and accept that different body types are as a result of different activities. Just because I may look different to the person sitting next to me, doesn’t mean that I should see myself any differently or am any less of a person.
It is because of my body and the unity of my body with my brain that hard training and great results come out of the pool. I am so grateful that my body allows me to do the things that I love, no matter what I look like.
Emilia Cilauro
Year 11
Owning my wellbeing is knowing what I need and want. For me, self care means all different things. On the days I am feeling down in the dumps I will make the time to look after myself: sometimes a bath and face mask.
On the days I feel like doing absolutely nothing I will push myself to do something. After seeing a friend or simply going for a walk I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and it makes me feel a sense of satisfaction.
For me, stress and anxiety are common themes in my life. With school, on the days when I have an extreme amount of work I try not to jump to conclusions like, “I am never going to finish” or, “my life is a mess”. I try to just focus on each task as I am completing it.
For example, if I am doing Math homework and I have an English essay to complete, I focus on finishing my Math before even thinking about English. Focusing on one thing at a time reduces the overwhelming thoughts and pressure that study can bring.
I am lucky to be blessed with such great support from my amazing friends. Talking to them about what is going on in my head and receiving their very best advice is such a great outlet. It’s reassuring to know that others go through similar struggles - it’s a relief as I don’t feel so alone.
In times like Lockdown, I feel as if my life is going nowhere. To overcome this I try to write down some goals - they don’t have to be huge goals that take months to accomplish. One of my goals at the moment is to learn how to knit.
Whenever I write down the things I want to accomplish it helps me to see, visually, what I am doing in my life. Once I do accomplish the goals I get to tick them off! A simple tick gives me a sense of satisfaction and worthiness.
The best thing I can advise others is, if you are in a negative place, try and get out of the house - even for 20 minutes. Soaking up the sun and being outside gives me a sense of freedom. Getting out of your home environment can be so rewarding.
When I lack motivation, I really try to push myself to do a task - for example, I love to draw and be creative. Working on something for a period of time helps me stay motivated and strong.
Abby English
Year 11
