COVID-19 has created a decline in mental health throughout the world, which can sometimes be very challenging to talk about. Here at Dana Hall, we have HOPE Club to help.

HOPE Club is new this year, and the club’s focus is on psychology and destigmatizing mental health. The club meets twice a week on Wednesdays at 12:30 pm and Thursdays at 8:30 am. Club members talk about anxiety, depression, and psychosis to help raise awareness. In this safe space, students share their own personal experiences and get vulnerable with each other so they can break down the wall and realize that they’re not alone.

Ainsley Bonang ’21, co-head of HOPE Club along with Sura Zhang ’23, emphasized that language is very powerful and that it is important to use it in a positive way. For example, the club uses the term “difforders” to focus on differences rather than on disorders. They want to emphasize that having a mental difference is not something to look down on but rather something that makes people unique.

Ainsley and Sura had different ideas when creating this club last spring. Ainsley was more focused on the mental health aspect as she struggled with mental health herself. Sura’s focus was on psychology. In China, mental health isn’t talked about often, and she became interested in psychology.

When students were under stress at school, Ainsley and Sura held a meeting on how to manage it with a stress-relieving craft session. They also share videos about mental health and psychology and host group discussions.

The HOPE Club is keen on partnering with other clubs here at Dana Hall. In December, HOPE Club and SHADES held a joint meeting where they discussed mental health in the BIPOC community. In January, HOPE Club and Film Club came together and watched Inside Out, an animated film about navigating emotions.