Thrive Month at the School of Pharmacy

Monday, October 18, 2021 12:00 am - Friday, November 12, 2021 11:59 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

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Thrive is a university-wide event focused on building positive mental health and raising mental health awareness for the University of Waterloo students, faculty, and staff. It is also a mindset that encourages you to flourish. We all have mental health, and we can each strengthen our mental health by learning about it, thinking about it, talking about it, and discovering new skills and resources to help us Thrive all year long.


Thrive Month is October 18 to November 12.

All Students, Faculty, and Staff are welcomed to participate!


All Month Events

Pharmacy Community Support Wall

Connecting with others and sharing your interests can be a great way to make new connections. Social interaction can help lower anxiety and depression, help with emotion regulation, result in higher self-esteem and empathy, and help improve our immune systems. Post in the collaborative Padlet and share your interests based on the prompt of the week.

Every Monday of Thrive Month, at 11:00am, we will post a new prompt for the week. Feel free to answer the old prompt or new prompt depending on what you would like to share with everyone. We encourage you to comment on each other’s posts and make friends!


Mark your calendars for these scheduled main campus Thrive Events!

Date/Time Event Who can participate
Mon Oct 18 12:15-12:45pm

Thrive Walk - Main Campus

Kick-off Thrive Month by joining the annual Thrive Walk on campus, in your neighbourhood, or at home! If you're joining us on campus, there will be two locations where you will meet with a lead. All COVID-19 protocols will be followed and participants will be required to wear a face covering and remain 6ft apart during the walk. Please register to participate in the walk.

All students, faculty, and staff
Mon Oct 18
10:00 – 11:00pm

Building a Growth Mindset Workshop

In this workshop, you will explore the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, highlight your strengths, and set goals to improve your weaknesses. All students in the University of Waterloo community are welcome. View event links through the Renison virtual events website.

All students
Thurs Oct 21
1:00 – 2:30pm

Let’s Talk about Mental Health at the Intersection

In collaboration with the President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART), we will be hosting a panel discussion  on intersectionality (the convergence of two or more identities within a person) and its effects on health and wellbeing. Please register for the discussion to receive the link to join.

All students, faculty, and staff
Mon Nov 1 or 8
4:00 – 5:30pm

Mindful Morsels

Join our special guest, award-winning Chef Javier for a virtual home cooking event on November 1 or 8 from 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. You will have the opportunity to explore your cooking talents by following Chef Javier’s affordable and delicious recipe for Huevos Rancheros. Register for Mindful Morsels to participate in making this delicious recipe!

All students, faculty, and staff
Wed Nov 10
9:00am – 4:00pm

Student Mental Health Research Conference 2021

The University of Waterloo's second annual Student Mental Health Research Conference aims to bring together members of our campus community to share knowledge, connect researchers, and promote mental wellness through presentations and interactive Q&A sessions. Please register to attend the conference to receive the link to join.

All students, faculty, and staff

 For more information about Thrive Month and events held on main campus, see the Campus Wellness Thrive page. 

Mark your calendars for these scheduled School of Pharmacy Thrive Events!

Date/Time Event Who Can Participate
Thurs Oct 21 4:30 – 5:00pm

School of Pharmacy Wellness Walk

Go on a walk or move in a way that feels good for you. Get that blood pumping!

Please register on our webform to receive a free coffee from Balzac's, on us!

All Pharmacy students, faculty, and staff
Mon Oct 25 to Fri Oct 29

School of Pharmacy Elephant in the Room Game

Don’t let mental health be the elephant in the room! Check our Instagram or Twitter platforms for daily updates and see if you can identify where the elephants are hidden around campus based on the photo shown.

Ten elephants will be hidden around the Pharmacy building on a daily basis. Retrieve an elephant and return it to its home (PHR 2004) and you will be entered in the draw. Additionally, each day at 9:45 a.m., we will post a photo of one of the elephants so those who are not on campus can still participate. You will have until 5:00 p.m. to post your guess and be entered in the draw!

All Pharmacy students, faculty, and staff
Wed Nov 3
4:00pm

School of Pharmacy Workshop on Burnout and Resiliency (MS Teams)

Are you struggling with burn out, uncertainty, or perfectionism? Join a community conversation about managing burnout and maintaining wellness through challenging times. Facilitated by our very own Melody Mann, Waterloo Counselling Services and Kaitlin Bynkoski, Director of Undergraduate Affairs.

All Pharmacy students, faculty, and staff
Mon Nov 8

School of Pharmacy Resiliency Wall

You are not alone. Everyone encounters different challenges throughout their lives so do not be so hard on yourself! As motivation and inspiration that you can do it, feel free to read resiliency stories on our Wellness Wall. Please visit the Stories of Resiliency webpage posted by Campus Wellness to read more stories!

Check out of Wellness Wall in the School of Pharmacy’s main lobby. You can respond to the prompts on our wall or share any mental health and wellness tips you find useful.

Alternatively, if you are not on campus, you may also submit your resiliency, challenges and coping mechanisms to our Resiliency Wall Stories webform and we will put it up for you!

All pharmacy students, faculty, and staff

Thrive Prizes

In order to be eligible to win a prize, you must be a current School of Pharmacy student, faculty, or staff member or CAP student. The more you participate, the more ballots you receive, which means more chances to win! One point = one ballot. Your name will be entered on a draw to win one of the following prizes!

One point will be awarded for each of the following:

  • retrieving one of the elephants hidden around the pharmacy building
  • submitting a guess for the Elephant in the Room game on social media
    • one guess per day regardless of the social media platform used
    • guesses may be submitted up until the reveal post at 5:00 p.m. daily
  • posting on the Padlet - Community Support Wall (one point per post)
  • attending the School of Pharmacy Workshop on Burnout and Resiliency (one point)

Healthy eating is important! We know that everyone has a lot on their plates now so our winners will enjoy a stress-free meal on us. The grand prizes are two $50 e-gift card from Skip the Dishes (one for the Elephant in the Room Game and one for posting on the Padlet Community Support Wall). Two secondary and two tertiary prizes of pharmacy swag bags will also be awarded.


Remember to share with us what helps you Thrive on our Community Support Wall!

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Brought to you by the Pharmacy Thrive Group:

Becky Ewan (staff), Kaitlin Bynkoski (staff), Colleen Maxwell (faculty), Cindy Yeung (grad student), Ashley Cid (grad student), Olivia McPherson (Rx2022), Kevin Huynh (Rx2023), Madeleine Rivard (Rx2023), Ethan Foster (Rx2024), Julia Pallisco (Rx2024), and Sofia Yang (U/G Co-op student)