Happy week nine, Pioneers! It is hard to believe that we are over halfway through the fall semester. We sincerely hope your semester is going well and that you take a little extra care of yourself this week after the madness of midterms. 

This week in our news section we covered that the university is partnering with an online therapy company called Joon to offer additional mental health services. This is an incredibly huge step for the university, as the counseling center has been very busy throughout the aftermath of the pandemic and remains hard to access for commuter students. Joon is a partner with the university’s insurance, meaning there would only be a monthly copay. If you do not have insurance, the therapist match is free, and the first consultation is $150. The university counseling center can still assist you in finding ways to help cover copays.

While online therapy may not be a perfect fit for everyone, we highly encourage you to take advantage of these mental health services. We have come so far as a society in terms of normalizing struggling with mental health issues, but, as college students, it can be so easy to just put our mental health at the bottom of our to-do list. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, nearly half of the 60 million adults and children living with mental health conditions in the United States go without any treatment.

If you have roommates and struggle to find a place of privacy for online therapy, do not forget the library has study rooms you can reserve. Also, remember that next Tuesday is the second annual Pioneer Pause! While there are no classes, we encourage you to pop by an event or at least pet the College Canines.