Written by: Addie
Edited by: Mattie
Graphic by: Addie
At ISM, mental health is hard to miss. We have counselors, mental health awareness campaigns, check-ins, and student led-initiatives dedicated to reminding us to take care of ourselves. But having resources and making students feel comfortable using them are two different things.
For a school that emphasizes well-being and balance, the more important question is whether students actually feel supported when they need it, and whether that support continues when academic pressure begins to take over. Although ISM has made efforts to support students, its academic culture and counseling structures do not always reflect these intentions.
Sofia, the president of the Mental Health Awareness Club, believes ISM has made an effort to make mental health support accessible. The club works to raise awareness about mental health and encourage students to prioritize their well-being. Students also have access to counselors and in-school therapeutic support, including peer counseling and social-emotional learning sessions. However, she sees a gap between the school’s messaging and students’ daily experiences.
“While ISM actively promotes balance and self-care in its messaging and clubs, the daily student reality is defined by heavy workloads and tight deadlines,” Sofia said. “The good intent is there, but it doesn’t always translate into a manageable workload or stress-free environment.”
This distinction is important. A school can encourage students to take care of themselves while simultaneously maintaining an environment where students feel like they cannot afford to slow down. When academic expectations remain high, reminders to prioritize mental health can feel disconnected from the reality students are experiencing.
For many students, counselors are the most direct connection between ISM’s mental-health messaging and their actual experience. However, that relationship depends heavily on whether the students feel comfortable with the counselor they are assigned to.
Charlie, a sophomore, said that approaching their counselor has generally been easy because they are comfortable discussing their emotions. However, they emphasized that trust does not automatically exist between a student and a counselor.
“You can’t always have that trust immediately,” Charlie states. “We need to build trust.”
A counselor’s personality can therefore make a significant difference. Some students may appreciate a counselor who is direct, even if they come across as particularly strict or intimidating, while others may need more time to feel comfortable opening up. “Being blunt is realistic — sometimes people like that and it helps them, but others might need to ease into the idea,” Charlie explained.
This makes counselor approachability especially relevant, particularly for counselors who are known for being “hardcore” or realistic. Being honest with students can be valuable, especially when discussing grades, university applications, or difficult decisions. But realism can be counterproductive if students become afraid that they will be judged, dismissed, or given a harsh reality check when they are already struggling.
The same applies to counselors’ gender. Some students may simply feel more comfortable discussing vulnerable or emotional topics with someone of the same gender. For example, some female students may feel uncomfortable discussing personal issues with a male counselor.
That does not mean that male counselors are incapable of supporting female students, or that female counselors are automatically better. Rather, it suggests that having some choice in who they speak to could help students feel more comfortable.
Charlie already takes advantage of having relationships with multiple counselors, approaching different counselors depending on the topic. He says that he feels more comfortable discussing certain aspects of their future with one counselor while talking about mental health and school goals with another. If students already naturally seek out counselors who they connect with, perhaps the system should recognize that flexibility rather than treating counselor assignments as one-size-fits-all.
This becomes particularly relevant in Grades 11 and 12, when students transition to college counselors. As university applications become a much larger part of students’ lives, counseling can easily become dominated by predicted grades, deadlines, applications, and university choices.
An anonymous senior said that her conversations with her counselor are mostly focused on academics and university planning. Although she does discuss mental health, it is not necessarily a central part of those conversations. There can also be an added pressure to make a good impression on a counselor when students know that their counselor will later write a recommendation letter. This can make it hard for students to be completely open about their struggles, particularly if they worry that appearing overwhelmed or struggling academically could affect how their counselor views them.
That is significant because Grades 11 and 12 are arguably when students need mental-health support most. A counselor should not have to choose between helping a student plan their future and checking whether that student is coping with the pressure of getting there. Students should not feel that they have to present themselves as perfectly capable in order to receive support or a strong recommendation.
The broader school culture matters too. The same senior also questioned whether mental-health initiatives can be fully effective when students are still surrounded by intense academic pressure. “Even if you have all this mental health stuff, and even if the school is really, really trying, it’s really just about the culture of the school,” they said.
At ISM, grades can become a measure of how students perceive themselves and each other. A five or a six can feel “bad” even when it’s an objectively strong grade. Students may only feel comfortable sharing their grades when they are sevens or high sixes. Telling students that “grades are just a number” does little if the culture around those grades says otherwise.
Sofia similarly believes that ISM’s approach needs to extend beyond awareness campaigns. She argues that mental health should be considered in the structure of academic life itself, including assessment schedules and workload.
There is also the practical issue of communication. Students should be able to expect a reasonable response when they reach out to a counselor. This does not mean that counselors need to respond immediately to every message, but when a student reaches out because they are struggling, waiting several days without even an acknowledgement can make an already difficult situation feel more isolating.
Sofia feels that quality should come before speed, but that even a brief acknowledgment or ten-minute check-in can make a difference when a student is distressed. The anonymous senior, whose counselor responds quickly, described receiving replies within the afternoon when she messages during school hours. However, another anonymous senior contradicts this by stating that they frequently waited for days for a response.
There are counselors whom students continue to seek out, even after they are no longer assigned to them, because they are approachable and easy to talk to. Ms. Berry, for example, is someone many upperclassmen still turn to because of the trust students have developed with her. This shows how much students remember counselors who make them feel safe enough to talk.
In the end, ISM does prioritize mental health, at least in its resources and messaging, but prioritizing mental health cannot stop at providing counselors, hosting awareness events, or telling students to maintain balance. It has to appear in the everyday experience of being a student.
If mental health is truly a priority, students should be able to feel that commitment not only through the resources available to them, but through the culture, expectations, and support that shape their time at ISM.
