FROM VALERIA ALAMINA (ZETA SIGMA, MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY), VICE PRESIDENT PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING
How often do you ask a loved one how they’re doing? Not to make small talk, not because you have to, but because you want to know how they’re really doing? Odds are it’s not as often as you wish it was. Real conversations, the ones that matter, can be the most difficult to have. To shed light on mental health awareness, and in an attempt to make these conversations easier, Zeta Sigma’s “Tell Them You Love Them” event was created.
Our “Tell Them You Love Them” event was originally inspired by “We’re Not Really Strangers”—a card game designed to make strangers closer, strengthen relationships and empower meaningful connections. After a night of playing this game with a few sisters and our littles, I was driven to create a mental health event that our entire chapter could partake in. This idea was as simple as gathering five meaningful prompts and writing them on cards:
- "Remind a sister you love them!”
- “Who is someone you wish you were closer with?”
- “Who is a sister that makes you feel loved, even when you don’t feel lovable?”
- “What’s the nicest thing a sister has done for you?”
- “Vent about your joy! Not just your problems!”
The goal was to remind members they’re never alone and increase their sense of belonging, while still remaining genuine. I partnered with our VP membership programming to set up a table with these prompts, and members gathered around to write response cards to their sisters. We left the table up for a week as a come-and-go event because although this was intended to make hard conversations easier, it doesn’t make them easy. Looking through the cards, the positive responses were overwhelming. I knew this event had to become larger.
The natural next step for me was taking this event to our Instagram account. I worked with
our VP DEI to create a highlight and spark a wider conversation surrounding mental health. Together, we created five more prompts as story templates for our sisters to fill out and repost throughout the last week of Mental Health Awareness Month. It was so meaningful for us to watch all our sisters come together online to promote this cause.
Mental health awareness is a topic that Zeta Sigma always strives to advocate for. Back in April, our VP DEI hosted a March for Mental Health where we paired with another fraternity on our campus. We used signs on this march to highlight important reminders to bystanders, such as “You are loved!” and “Your mental health matters!” We recognize how vital these efforts are to how our campus views mental health. To make someone feel less alone is truly powerful.
If there’s one thing Zeta Sigma wants people to take away from our campaign, it’s that reminding your loved ones how much they mean to you should always be a priority. You’ll never know how much they need it. Tell someone you love them today!