While enrolled in an accelerated bachelor\u2019s-to-master\u2019s degree program in the Wilson College of Textiles, Cody Zane found himself in a difficult place. The demands of school and his job as a residence advisor, combined with the challenges of being far from home and unable to visit family, caused him to struggle with sleeplessness, anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really hard on me,\u201d Zane said. \u201cI slept too much, and I took sleep medications to help me sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time he got home to New Jersey for winter break in 2012, Zane realized that he needed help. He turned to NC State\u2019s Counseling Center and found a counselor who helped him deal with the challenges he was facing.<\/p>\n

Now that he is a Ph.D. student in fiber and polymer science, Zane has turned his experience into an opportunity to help other graduate students through the Counseling Center\u2019s Mental Health Ambassadors program. He is currently the only graduate student participating in the program.<\/p>\n

Mental Health Ambassadors are students who are trained to listen to other students and help those in need find coping strategies and resources for support. Graduate students experience emotional stress and distress at a rate six times that of the general public, which can undermine their academic success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is to have students present to students because it\u2019s much more impactful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zane has his own theories about why graduate school is so stressful today. He learned that when his mother\u2019s half-brother earned an Ed.D. in 1976, he completed his research project in just two weeks. Today\u2019s graduate students have research projects that take years, not weeks, to complete. And the research involves more \u201cdeep down, intricate topics\u201d than in the past, Zane said.<\/p>\n

Helping other students \u2013 especially graduate students like himself \u2013 has become a passion for Zane. Melissa Pasquinelli, his faculty advisor for his master\u2019s degree, first introduced him to the MHA program in 2017. From there, he began to partner with the Graduate School on what steps could be taken together.<\/p>\n

Peter Harries, interim dean of the Graduate School, also is interested in helping students to achieve wellness and manage the stress that comes with graduate school. In fact, student mental health has become a focus of New Graduate Student Orientation and other programs the Graduate School offers. Recently, the Graduate School partnered with the Counseling Center to develop writing workshops that offer productive strategies for managing the affective and emotional dimensions of the writing process.<\/p>\n

Harries and Zane joined forces with others to create a campus task force on graduate student mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cCody is a real pioneer, first, as the only graduate MHA, but also as a graduate student who is willing to tell his story and use it as a means to motivate others to seek the resources they need. He is incredibly devoted to improving the lives and success of NC State\u2019s graduate students,\u201d Harries said.<\/p>\n