Interviews by Kelsey Olarte, Photography by Natasha Morrison

Question: How understanding and supportive is Riverside City College’s faculty and staff of students’ mental health?

“I see they advocate mental health a lot on their social media. In my opinion, I think that our school is supportive, and they try to provide help to students when needed.” 

-Chau Ly 

“Very understanding. I feel like every resource I need and will ever need is available to me. I notice that I always get emails reaching out to students about mental health, and I feel like it is always there for me if I need it. I feel that the faculty here genuinely care about student health.” 

-Paul Ingram 

“I was actually kind of surprised that every single teacher I’ve had has put in the syllabus and said in class on the first day the disability thing. Flexible deadlines are very helpful when it comes to mental health issues, so I really appreciate that. My teacher has been very understanding and has extended deadlines for me a couple of times. They don’t overwhelm you with tons of homework.” 

-Peyton Cooney 

“I think they are being as supportive as they can. I haven’t had any bad experiences yet or hopefully ever.”

-Clarissa Mendez

“It varies from teacher to teacher. A lot of professors are lenient with certain mental health aspects and give extensions. Other professors are stricter and want things done in a timely manner, which is understandable most of the time. However, when things are out of your control, it can get a little bit irritating and just adds to the stress when you know you only have a certain amount of time to get so much done.”  

-Savannah Messenger 

“It seems that if you need help right now, you won’t be able to access it. I looked into the free counseling a little bit, and it seems full a lot of the time. Sometimes the policies the school has are good, but I don’t think they have been able to implement them in a way that is truly useful for the students a lot of the time.” 

-Mar Pencall