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My name is Sylvia, a HAPHE Ambassador. In the Autumn of 2021, between classes and grabbing pizza, a friend and I found ourselves chatting about our mental health—hers, mine, and pretty much everyone we knew. Spoiler alert: things weren’t great.

But important conversations slip into the background. Bits hang in the air. Friends, exams, parties—they came and went, and honestly, so did our conversation on our determination to do something about "it" . At the beginningr of second year, I randomly came across the HAPHE Café team - they visited a university near ours—University of Bath.  Guess what? I decided to join their team as an ambassador at my university— I just thought they were cool, crazy, I wasn't thinking—

But as time went on, their message—“diversify your emotional investment”—really started to click for me. I started actually doing the stuff I was talking about. I tried out new hobbies - not just one, I got closer to some friends - not just one, and I even picked up two extra vocational courses, even though accountancy was my goal.

I was diversifying. And guess what? It actually worked. I didn't know it at the time but my emotional energy was no longer singularly invested in single aspects of life.  If you had asked whether or not I thought I was getting mentally tougher I would have wondered what you were talking about. It was a year later when my long-time boyfriend dumped me, then it dawned on me. Before HAPHE, the breakup would’ve sent me into a spiral.  Now, I noticed the "bounce back". Some might have said I'd become more resilient. It took me a long time to own up to that myself. But when I did start noticing, It became my mission to tell everyone about HAPHE.

As more of us start spreading the word about the importance of diversifying our emotional investments, there have been changes. The real question is: what’s next? This is just the beginning, and more students need to hear this message and understand how to build those diverse emotional connections. Let’s keep raising awareness and showing everyone how to strengthen their mental resilience. Join us and be part of the change.


Together, we’ve got this. So stay safe, and keep your connections healthy.