Written By: Rania Keona Aji
Edited By: Rumaisha Ghina
Although the semester had ended, February had been a busy month for APU Mental Wellness club, shortened to APU Mewe, who just wrapped up a series of events. APU Mewe is a circle that aims to support APU students’ mental health, doing so by raising awareness through educational posts, providing consultations, and organising various events.
On January 31st, the club kicked off the first phase by launching week-long promotions for their #WeMissYou campaign by encouraging students to tag their friends on Instagram, following the unique prompt of the day. From long-distance friends to places they would like to travel to, APU MeWe’s Instagram page was filled with various responses and happy-looking faces, spreading the word about the event in an interactive and creative way.
Zalfa, the club’s Head of Content, shared that #WeMissYou marks their first collaboration with APU’s International Admissions Office. Together, they worked for over a month to prepare an event that provided overseas students the chance to connect and meet new people within the APU community.
Then on February 18th, during their second campaign “Virtual Beppu”, students were able to interact with each other through an interactive platform to learn about different places in Beppu, where APU is located. Overall, approximately 72 students from 22 different countries joined the event. Many participants also expressed positive feedback on their experience, agreeing that it was a great and safe space to make new friends.
“It was one of the best events I've been a part of. Due to the border closure, there was a lot of FOMO that we experienced not being able to meet new people and explore Beppu. But both of those things were made possible thanks to MeWe and “Virtual Beppu”. I absolutely loved the event!” said Aditi, a 1st-year student from India.
“It was very fun! It was my first time getting involved with international students, but everyone was kind and very easy to talk to. I'm not good at English, but they listened to me seriously. And I heard a lot of stories about each country!” said Mitsuki, an incoming student from Japan.
“I thought it was really fun! At first, I was skeptical that this would be any different than a networking event on Zoom, but they proved me wrong. The platform allowed us to interact similarly to real life where you could pass by someone and start a conversation. The world the MeWe team built was also expansive enough that I had fun exploring it.” said Samarra, a 2nd-year student from Indonesia.
The campaign continues into its third phase with video campaigns on the university’s official Instagram page. This featured professors, teaching assistants and students sharing personal messages to international students, expressing their wishes to be able to meet them on campus soon. The final phase of the campaign, “Buddy’s Consultation”, was held for students who want to talk to MeWe members about their struggles concerning topics such as academic life and remote learning.
With these events, APU MeWe would like to remind us that the friends we meet online are equally as special as those we meet offline. The whole project emphasizes what APU and its student community want to convey to their international students who are still unable to enter Japan; that they are eagerly waiting for them on campus. After over two years of living through a pandemic, Zalfa says “[These events] are a great way to reflect and see the good parts of overwhelming situations right now.”
Although the #WeMissYou campaign has ended, surveys from participants indicate that many wish to experience the event again in the future. Zalfa reassures us by saying that there are many upcoming MeWe events being planned. “We hope more people will be part of our journey and hope from a mental health perspective we can be a good community and discuss it together more,” she concludes.
Credits:
-Timeline of APU MeWe’s We Miss You campaign.
-APU MeWe’s #WeMissYou promotion on Instagram stories
-Virtual Beppu being held on an interactive platform.
-Screenshot of APU’s Instagram page featuring #WeMissYou video campaigns by APU professors, TAs, and students