Vargas 1

Miguel Vargas

Professor P. Mirchandani

ENC 1101

March 19th, 20204

Advocacy Website for College Student Mental Health

Concerns about college student's mental health are on the rise. Following the research

done by Stetson University, around the 77 th percent of college students are suffering some sort of

psychological distress. With the development of this website, the goal is to provide trustful

resources and techniques to eliminate these problems and create awareness of these problems in

college students. It is also aimed as one of the goals in mind to combat these struggles and

destigmatize them. The website will aim to create a user-friendly platform that seeks to promote

self-care practices and connect students with services that will help their needs. This will be done

by providing tailored information to the very unique needs of these college students.

Although the website is for everyone to use and the advice provided will help

anyone with mental health issues, the target audience for the website is college students aged 18

to 25 years old. This age group is known to be very susceptible to issues like stress, anxiety, and

depression that often mess with their academic expectation and lifestyle. Focusing exclusively on

college students will allow the website to help a specific range of people who usually struggle

with seeking mental health support. Despite the lack of importance of mental health issues

among students, stigma often stops them from seeking help. Because of this, the website aims to

get rid of these barriers and create a culture where seeking mental health support is normalized

and encouraged. By doing so, I hope to create a supportive environment where students feel

empowered to put first their mental health and seek the help they need.
 Vargas 2

As of now the current context of college student's mental health is on the lower side,

accompanied by the rise of anxiety rates and suicidal ideas reported on campuses across the US.

Academic pressure, financial stress, social isolation, and stigma are all factors that surround

mental illness and contribute to this crisis. Additionally, The COVID-19 pandemic has created

challenges for college students that even to this point can't find themselves overcoming it.

Destigmatization, education, community development, and resource navigation are the

main tactics aimed to be used on the website. Destigmatization uses personal stories, testimonies,

and educational information to counter misconceptions about mental illness. Education provides

knowledge about frequent mental health issues, symptoms, and treatment choices, which will

allow students to identify when they require assistance and know where to go. Community

Building will promote a sense of comfort and support through online forums centered on mental

health awareness and activities to improve it. Resource Navigation will create a user-friendly

interface that provides quick access to campus counseling services, crisis hotlines, treatment

resources, self-help tools, and other pertinent support services.

The advocacy project will be web-based and will contain a combination of graphics,

texts, videos, and interactive elements that the users can interact with. Accessibility is one of the

most important aspects that I look for in the project. Because of that, the website has the goal to

be accessible on multiple devices such as computers tablets and smartphones to ensure the best

experience possible is accessible no matter the location and device available.

To ensure the credibility and effectiveness of the information and resources provided, the

website will prioritize evidence-based content. The goal of the website upon academic research,

expert insights, and reputable sources, is to deliver accurate and reliable information on mental

health topics. Additionally, personal narratives shared by college students who have already been
 Vargas 3

through mental health struggles will be shared on the platform. The stories will no longer be the

emphasis of the website yet will serve as a powerful rhetorical tool to evoke empathy in the user

while also highlighting real life struggles they have faced. This will help the humanizing the

process of individuals dealing with these types of struggles.

The website has as one of many goals to establish credibility. One of the many ways is

through a combination of personal credentials and endorsements. By providing endorsements

from mental health professionals, academic institutions, and student organizations, the website

establishes the credibility and reliability of the content used and provided. The website will

provide users with the comfort that the material inside the website is verified by credible sources,

creating faith and confidence in the platform to successfully handle mental health concerns.

Alongside the implementation of credibility, the website aims to use emotionally resonant

language and imagery. This with the goal of evoking empathy and compassion in the user. By

sharing personal narratives and experiences of college students who have dealt with mental

health, the website will create a space for emotional connection. These stories will highlight real-

life struggles faced by said college students trying to create empathy and understanding inside

the college community. The website aims to engage users on a deep emotional level that

hopefully leads them to seek support and take action against these struggles to improve their

overall well-being.

Finally, the last rhetorical strategy that will be implemented is emotional appeal. The

website will provide logical evidence that supports the importance of mental health initiatives on

college campuses. The use of citing will strengthen the arguments on the importance of mental

health issues among college students and the need to address them effectively. This logical

evidence emphasizes the significance of mental health advocacy and will promote an
 Vargas 4

understanding of the faced challenges throughout the website. Because of the implementation of

both emotional and logical appeals, the website will seek to create a comprehensive platform that

resonates with its audience and leads to a positive change in the lives of these college students.

The website will be organized into the following four main sections: a homepage, a

problem page, a page going over the problems and effects, the resources page (a page that goes

over strategies) and resources, and a page about me and the references. The homepage will serve

to create a brief introduction to the mental health problems college students are going through.

The problem page will discuss in much more detail the struggle of the students while also

discussing the cause and effect of these. The resources page will provide different alternatives

the students can choose to better their mental health. Finally, a page that will contain my

personal information and the sources used throughout the website. Additionally, the website will

feature a pastel scale of mint and orange that aims to add a calm vibe to the website.

By integrating study proposals it is critical to ensure the material and resources that are

given meet the specific needs and concerns of college students with mental health. The academic

study findings will provide a guide for the selection of evidence-based content and resources for

the website. Based on proven research, a website can give reliable and current information on

mental health diseases, symptoms, treatment choices, and coping methods. Surveys and

interviews with college students will yield useful insights into their mental health experiences,

issues, and desires. Combining user feedback and evidence-based content, the website may

become a trusted and meaningful resource for the college student community.