Close to depression: AAUA students find succour from emotional instability on a website

The University of Arizona's Commitment to Underserved People (CUP) program operates 12 student-run free clinics that provide comprehensive medical, mental health, and social support services to Tucson's unhoused and uninsured residents. In 2024 they served 525 patients while simultaneously training the next generation of community-minded physicians.

Higher education institutions such as Centenary University and Yale University are now offering courses and programs in “happiness studies,” an academic discipline that draws on philosophy, theology, neuroscience, literature, and psychology to examine what helps people thrive. Nearly 1,200 students signed up for Yale’s first happiness course, and a 2021 study found that students who participated in a happiness class reported better mental health.

In several small rural towns in Texas, mental health professionals from Texas Tech are offering telemedicine counseling to make up for a lack of counselors available in local middle and high schools. The Governor's office has now asked the successful school districts to develop a training program for teachers in other Texas districts in order to scale the model.

Because women make up a smaller percentage of farmers in America as compared to men in the field, their work and contributions to the industry are often overlooked. HarvestHER, a social media-based platform established by a small-town Montana farmer, aims to alleviate the stress of working in a men-dominant field by giving women a voice in the community.

Healing trauma has never been an easy process but programs like Healing Hurt People help to promote recovery in traumatized, angry young men. This program, in partnership with local medical services, aims to provide therapy in place of violence, which would only cause more trauma down the road. Those who stick with the program have found great success in overcoming their pasts.

NYU IRL is a comprehensive, student-led initiative to reduce screen time and foster social connections on campus. The response includes: creating phone-free gathering spaces and dining tables, hosting device-free events, offering a course that helps students examine their technology habits and developing a 30-day phone breakup plan during student orientation. Several hundred students have participated, and those who have say they’ve formed stronger connections with their peers.

The student-led SzKTP program provides peer mentorship and application help to high school students interested in attending Corvinus University, with the goal of improving higher education opportunities for students from low-income and disadvantaged areas. Once they’re accepted to Corvinus, students in the program continue to receive support and guidance, as well as a stipend to help lessen the burden of university-related costs.

Following violent disruption during campus elections in 2021, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, implemented an electronic voting process which allowed students to cast their ballots online via a university portal. Some students who had previously abstained from participating in elections due to safety concerns were able to vote, but the platform also experienced technical glitches and fears around cyberattacks, which left some students unable to cast their ballots.

We Are Not Your Soldiers sends military veterans into school classrooms to discuss alternatives to enlisting and the harm the military has caused. More than 50 veterans have participated in the program, which focuses on debunking myths about recruitment benefits and contextualizing the role of the military in broader social issues.

A U.S.-based nonprofit is providing access to online IT training courses at an affordable cost to allow those who are interested to learn skills in the IT field, thus helping them get jobs. The nonprofit also helps address barriers those in Nigeria face, like lack of internet access and necessary tools like laptops.