Michael OSteen Profile of Engagement Wolcott ENC3331 0M02 Spring February 7, 2014 Just Do Something I had never met

William Butler, but I already liked him. I tend to anticipate rejection, and the prospect of reaching out to a stranger for an interview was not a hopeful one. I wonder if the many people who might reach out to William for help feel this way. William said Yes, and that positive response to my request for an interview was already challenging my understanding of civic engagement. This may tell me a little more about the negativity Id like to dismantle in my own life than Id like to admit, but more than that I think it reflects the consistency with which William is shaping the culture at UCF. I sent William a text to let him know I had arrived. Of the six tables in the area we had arranged to meet I sat at the one table without an umbrella. I would have sat at another table, but the students sitting there may have made for an awkward interview. The table was fluorescent black, and the sun was out. I know this because it is over twenty four hours later, and when I close me eyes I can still see the afterimage of the sun reflecting off of the table. We introduced ourselves and politely didnt talk about the table, though we should have probably given some credit to the beautiful day. William was wearing blue scrubs. Hes a full-time student and works at Health Services. There is a tremendous amount of focus required to be a full-time student. Add a job to that equation, and it can be summed up that William Butler is no slouch. I

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have still not even introduced why I wanted to interview him! William is the current president of Active Minds@UCF. Active Minds is a Registered Student Organization (RSO) that works through the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). It aims to increase awareness of mental health while decreasing the stigma of gaining psychological services. Not only is it a club that combats the stigma associated with mental health, it also promotes the services available for students through CAPS. It was originally established at Penn State in 2003. It was founded by Alison Malmon in response to the unanticipated suicide of her older brother Brian. Alison began Active Minds to promote awareness and encourage others to seek help as soon as possible. It has since grown to incorporate over 400 campus chapters. One of the major events that have occurred on our own campus was Send Silence Packing. Picture 1,100 backpacks displayed outside of the Student Union. Each backpack has a personal story and represents the number of student suicides that occur each year. More recently, Active Minds@UCF hosted a community art project that displayed student submitted anonymous secrets called PostSecretU. All of these are poignant examples of the way Active Minds is engaging with our campus to promote mental health and connect students with the available services needed. This year Active Minds@UCF will be hosting the No Stress Fest, so be on the lookout for it. William sat down with me to talk about what he does in Active Minds and why he thinks its important. As the president of Active Minds@UCF he plays a significant role in how the club is organized. Not only does he manage the paperwork for up to date RSO status, he also makes sure the club is running smoothly and delegates tasks to

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other officers. When William first got involved it was a smaller club, so he has been a significant part of its revitalization on campus. After spending his first year of involvement as secretary he took on a more substantial role as president. He is organized, but he also makes sure that Active Minds@UCF runs in such a way that it allows members to be flexible and feel like they are making a significant contributions at the same time. His philosophy behind it is that if all the leadership roles in Active Minds@UCF are filled up then only one person is benefiting from that leadership experience. This way new ideas are always coming forward as anyone is welcome to present them. The main thing I wanted to learn about William was how his involvement with Active Minds has been influenced by his understanding of civic engagement. He defined civic engagement as the actions that happen between people naturally...persuading people to take action for some type of cause that is meaningful. I think that definition fits quite nicely with what William and Active Minds do. He mentioned that the best part of being involved, besides the friendships being made, was that we are all getting together and doing something, and its actually happening. This may sound simple, but I think it is significant. Active Minds involvement on campus can give us all a deeper understanding of what it is to be responsibly engaged. Actually doing something, whether it be a challenge to rigid and unquestioning frames of mind or an answer to a direct and substantial need, pays no mind to what can happen but simply to what can be done. Its not going through the motions of the day to day. I can see these thoughts on civic engagement clearly displayed in what William hopes for the future of Active Minds@UCF. Now that he has shown that they can have

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regular tabling and that the big events make their presence on campus known, he would like to see Active Minds@UCF take on a larger role with CAPS, perhaps through something like suicide prevention training, that would make it more of a peer outreach. Active Minds@UCF is not trying to be a support group. It recognizes that other affiliated organizations like To Write Love On Her Arms is already fulfilling that role. People need that peer support, but many of the people who get involved with Active Minds@UCF are educating others about mental health in order to act as a liaison between the student body and the vital services they need. To those taking action this may be more significant to their growth as a person whereas peer support might not meet that need. I think this leaves a solid impression of how civic engagement is concretely interpreted by William and everyone at Active Minds. To go back to where I started, that William agreed to do this interview reflects the positive influence Active Minds is having on UCF. Im trying to make a connection between the amount of skepticism I bring to the table when anticipating a negative response to a simple request for an interview and the overwhelming sense of rejection someone who is contemplating suicide already feels without even letting anyone who could help know about it. There is a consistency in the realized importance of what Active Minds is doing. The simple Yes to to my request for an interview translates to the positive influence Active Minds has on campus in affirming those in need by addressing the stigma associated with mental heath. I had never conducted an interview, but I know this: I would never want to be in a shoot out with William for a job. If you want to be a psychiatrist and have dreams of Northwestern, step it up.