These Filipino Psychology students attended my first organized webinar. Here’s the story.

ᴾʰᵒᵗᵒ ᵉᵈⁱᵗᵉᵈ ⁱⁿ ᶜᵃⁿᵛᵃ

Hi HIVE friends! How are you? My blog seems like a ghost town lately, right? Hehe but that’s because I was handling my mental health advocacy on Facebook, specifically, I was organizing my first webinar under The Wounded Healer on Aug 28th, 9:00 am to 11:00 am, via Zoom conference.

Since the start of 2023, my speakership engagements have been all invitational, which means a third party contacted me to be their guest speaker. Among these were Batangas Eastern Colleges and ICT-ED Lipa and webinars of the University of Sto. Tomas and my alma mater, De La Salle Lipa.

This time, I wanted my own online event that involves helping Psychology students to be emotionally and physically prepared for college.

Why? I have seen an overwhelming amount of anxious posts about entering college as a Psych student and wanted to give the right information and comfort them. Also, it was my way of showing gratitude since students were the first ones to interact with my posts and the people who invited me as their speaker.

It is a FREE mental health webinar complete with an e-certificate and a copy of resources.

ᴾʰᵒᵗᵒ ᵉᵈⁱᵗᵉᵈ ⁱⁿ ᶜᵃⁿᵛᵃ

So here’s the official title of the event! It’s very direct and you would know at first glance what this would be about. Admittedly, there are a lot of topics that can be under “college preparation,” but I made sure they would get as much as they could from the webinar. From major and elective subjects to learning outcomes, they would learn everything I wish I knew when I was a freshman.

However, to have a successful webinar, it needs participants. That’s when my marketing strategy comes in with the help of my sister, who is a digital marketing expert. We launched a Facebook ad that had a video of me talking about the webinar details. You can watch it here.

As the days went by, approaching the date of Aug 28th, more and more people were registering. All the way from NCR – National Capital Region, Region I - Ilocos Region, Region II – Cagayan Valley, Region III – Central Luzon, Region IV‑A – CALABARZON, to Region VI – Western Visayas, Region V – Bicol Region, and Region X – Northern Mindanao (Hello if you're from these regions! 👋)

Part of the webinar components are the hosts as well. Luckily, my childhood best friends, Neil and Marj, were up to the challenge. Then my best friend, Lour, also helped me with the technical aspect of the webinar. It was all coming together and it felt like I was back in college again because of our lively energy while preparing for the event. You could say we formed our own team and my friends were the first volunteers of The Wounded Healer.

ON THE DAY

The sun shone bright on the morning of the 28th despite the rain pouring the days prior. I took that as a good sign from the universe that we were doing the right thing - helping students ease their anxiety as they enter college. We don’t want more anxious kids, right?

Okay, 3, 2, 1 and we’re live! Marj and Neil kicked it off with an engaging icebreaker about our national heroes since it was National Heroes Day. After a few laughs and a small technical issue, I was put in the spotlight and spoke about the topic, “Introducing Psyching Yourself Up.”

To summarize, it’s not just about the phrases we say in order to feel more confident, but it’s reflecting what makes us anxious and how to frame the anxious thoughts to be more helpful in our situation. Psyching yourself up begins with awareness.

Once the first part was over, the virtual stage was handed to Ms. Mina Ragasa, the founder of There Is Hope PH - Mental Health Matters, which is a non-profit organization that aims to help individuals with mental health issues get the right support. We gave her time to promote the organization’s history and projects.

ᴾʰᵒᵗᵒ ᵉᵈⁱᵗᵉᵈ ⁱⁿ ᶜᵃⁿᵛᵃ

Then, it was time for the second part, where we take a deep dive into what you could expect in this undergraduate degree. All the nitty gritty details were explained here. I even shared an insider look at some of the major subjects. But due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to discuss thoroughly why psychology is not just a discipline, but a movement. It turned out that two hours was not enough.

We had such a great time interacting with one another and it’s such a shame we had to cut it short. However, I know this wouldn’t be the last of The Wounded Healer’s free webinars and it is certainly the beginning of an online community for Psych lovers and learners alike.

PARTICIPANT’S FEEDBACK

Later that day, the evaluation form was filled in by the participants and it warmed my heart so much to hear their thoughts about the event. Here are some of my personal highlights.

ᴾʰᵒᵗᵒ ᵉᵈⁱᵗᵉᵈ ⁱⁿ ᶜᵃⁿᵛᵃ

“Do things scared. I'm not the risk taker type. I'm more of "if I do this, this is the outcome" or "if I don't do that, this will be the outcome", I sort things out first before accepting a task. And most of the time, I don't take it because I'm scared that I'll fail. I let pass a lot of opportunities that came to me, making me regret most of it. But now, I've gained the confidence to accept things and do things scared. That failure is not something we should be scared of, it it's something we should learn from.”

“In every struggles, there's a solution. As Miss Ish was giving her school tips, I came to realize that I always see my struggle as a whole which makes me anxious and all but then, as I was listening to her tips, I came up with a thought to break down the struggle and take it slowly.”

“I love how Ms. Ish comforted us through the journey of being a Psych student and kept on affirming that we are able to do the things we thought were impossible. The hosts slash friends of Ms. Ish were warm and very good at hosting. I want more hehe❤”

“I am deeply honored to be given an opportunity to attend this webinar and I truly didn't regret sparing my time. I was indeed a worthwhile experience as I gain new insights on how to prepare myself for the long journey I was about to embark on. For the suggestion, I would recommend to have more engagement with the participants, something that will somehow empower them to share their own stories.”

“I don't have any comments or suggestion for improvement because the webinar is interactive, they made me feel like I am belong (like it was a friendly discussion).”

“My overall feedback is excellent. I can say that it is indeed a privilege to be part of the webinar, I am encouraged by simply listening about the mentioned topics. I realized that what I am currently experiencing and what I feel about the overwhelming adjustment are normal. I am motivated to face these bottle even though I am scared or anxious; just by knowing that I am not alone comforts me.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

I may not be as active here on the platform as I used to, but I’ll always come back to share a glimpse of what’s going on in my life. Right now, I’m being directed to lead, guide, and help the community closest to my heart.

I also have decided to use whatever I earn here as a fund for The Wounded Healer charity event coming this December. A separate blog will talk about this. So I deeply thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this and supporting my blog with a comment or reaction 💜

With your help, I can raise enough funds for the out of school senior residents of Brgy. Maraouy, Lipa City, and another local community. And to be honest, I doubted myself several times about going back to being a speaker. I thought I was too silent, but I was just merely resting for better days yet to come.

All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.

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