Yogyakarta, 14th of October 2024—As a form of actualization of The World Mental Health Day on October 10, CDC of Fisipol UGM has arranged a series of events titled “Mental Health Society” in Fisipol UGM. This event opened with the pre-event that chose the concept of catharsis with the title “Road to Failure Week”. This pre-event activity began with the concept of catharsis, which is the process of releasing pent-up emotions stored in the heart.
This event, which was held in Taman Sansiro Fisipol UGM, invited the students to write their feelings and emotions regarding their past failures or missed opportunities due to the fear of failure. This catharsis was held due to the fact that students nowadays are facing even higher pressure and expectations, in the academic sector as well as their personal lives. These expectations are often unrealistic.
According to Resa Dwi Wahyuningsih, as Peer Counselor of CDC Fisipol UGM, these expectations can lead to a fear of failure and a tendency to avoid challenges and new opportunities. Consequently, a mindset is formed that considers failure as something that should be avoided at all costs, even though failure is part of the learning process and self development.
“The main objective of this event is to help students reflect on their mistakes and failures not as obstacles, but more as an important part of the journey of success,” mentioned Resa in the interview.
In doing this event, students are expected to be able to find the positives in every failure, so that they can get back up again and be even more stronger. Remembering this, the momentum of this catharsis can be interpreted as a form of “venting” but in a positive way, so that students can return to their daily activities with better mindsets.
This event was initiated by CDC Fisipol Peer Counselor, in collaboration with partners such as Wardah, Hondje, dan MariPiknik. As the name suggests, Road to Failure Week is the beginning of a series of activities in Fisipol UGM’s Mental Health Society 2024. The organization of this event also highlighted the importance of mental health in achieving sustainable development by reducing the potential of premature death in the younger generation. With the agenda of Mental Health Society 2024, CDC Fisipol UGM has the intention to expand the awareness of the civitas academia, in regards to the right to access mental health facilities, such as a consultation with a peer-counselor or a CDC psychologist.