Sarah Park is a third-year student from Port Williams, NS pursuing a Bachelor of Science in psychology with a minor in mathematics.

1. What is your summer internship?

I was awarded the Loewen Internship in Adolescent Mental Health from Mount Allison. I work for Dr. Stan Kutcher, the Sun Life Financial Chair in Adolescent Mental Health, alongside the rest of the Sun Life Financial Chair Team. TeenMentalHealth.org is our public-facing entity that is used as our hub for knowledge dissemination and is where our evidence-based resources and reports are made available to the public.

I am a research intern and work mostly with data analytics on our school-based mental health interventions. However, we recently received funding to create more culturally-responsive mental health curriculum materials for Canada’s Indigenous population. Consequently, my focus has shifted to include literature reviews, environmental scans, and even learning more about the history and culture of Indigenous Canada.

2. What do you hope to get out of the internship?

I’m hoping to make a meaningful and positive contribution to the Sun Life Financial Chair team, as I believe their work is fundamental, and there is a lack of evidence-based mental health resources available to be taught in schools in Canada and abroad. I am also experiencing “real-life” research and how my education is relevant and applicable to this field of work.

3. What are you involved in on campus?

I was very involved in my residence community in my first year and was fortunate enough to return to Bigelow House for a second year as their assistant don. I have been involved with SMILE since first year and can’t think of a better way to spend Saturday mornings than running around and splashing around in the pool with my buddy!

I will be a part of this year’s Orientation Team as an Orientation Crew member for my third Orientation Week at Mount A and I will be returning to the Psychology Society executive this year as the vice-president of academics. Additionally, I plan on returning to Global Brigades after taking a hiatus this past year to attend the Cross-Cultural College: Global Career Seminar (offered jointly by Mount Allison, Queen’s University, the University of Toronto, and Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan) at the University of Toronto during the winter reading week.

A couple hours of my week will continue to be dedicated to the Healthcare Outreach and spending time volunteering — my favourite is visiting with residents at the Drew Nursing Home in Sackville — and I recently joined Conduct Becoming as their secretary-treasurer. Conduct Becoming is a CD we produce featuring Mount A artists and sell to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

4. What are you most looking forward to next year at Mount Allison?

Entering my third year, I am excited about the classes I will be taking as they become more focused in the topics I am interested in, as well as becoming more involved in my current extracurricular commitments. I’m hoping to continue to branch out and seek out different activities at Mount A and in Sackville.

5. What is one piece of advice you would give to your first-year self?

The best advice I can think of is to not limit your learning to textbooks. There is much to learn outside of lectures and labs. University is a brand new experience and is full of new opportunities and interesting people.

Take the time to learn what you value, how you want to fit into society, how to be autonomous, how to be a part of a team, how to be empathetic, altruistic, etc. Step outside of your comfort zone. Join a new club, try something new or find a new passion. If you feel lost, or even scared, you aren’t alone. Everyone is in the same boat — embrace it! This is the time to learn. University is a forgiving atmosphere — you’re supposed to make mistakes.