TALKS Week, the Peer Support Centre (PSC)’s annual week-long campaign, is back again this year to show students the importance of strong support systems.

The campaign week is scheduled to run from Oct. 18 to 22 in a series of online and in-person events. PSC TALKS was originally created to spread the idea that everyone has the power to help a friend and to celebrate the array of support services available at Queen’s.

TALKS Week takes place annually under the supervision of the PSC’s outreach manager. The acronym stands for Tell them you care, Ask gently, Listen attentively, Know your resources, and Stay in touch.

“As someone who has a really strong support system and […] understands how it has such a positive impact in my life, I’m hoping that a lot of other students come to that realization of how great it can be to have those strong, healthy connections with other people,” Josée Lalonde, PSC outreach manager, said in an interview with The Journal.

“The goal is to have students realize how important it is to reach out and support each other, especially during tough times.”

The week will kick off on Monday with a booth in the ARC and a whiteboard campaign, where students will be able to fill in a prompt and learn about TALKS Week. This event is in collaboration with Step Above Stigma, a mental health resource club on campus.

On Tuesday, the PSC will host the PSC x Queen’s Committee Against Racial and Ethnic Discrimination event, an initiative to help support BIPOC students on campus. The event will involve different activity stations in the JDUC.

On Wednesday, students will be able to help make a mural in the ARC. That night, the PSC will also host a Zoom cooking class, where students can follow along with a recipe and cook a meal at home.

“A lot of students may forget to eat, or they tend to eat out a lot during midterms season, so [we’re] trying to encourage healthy meal-making at home,” Lalonde explained.

On Thursday, the PSC will host a postcard making session during the day when students will be encouraged to write letters to those they care about.

That evening, students will be invited to listen to speakers and show their support at the TALKS rally. Many of the speakers are from different mental health resources on campus, like Jack.org. Due to physical distancing guidelines, the event will cap out at 40 to 50 people—students will need to sign up in advance.

“[The speakers] will have a discussion about what a support system means to them, what a healthy support system looks like, and how it has either benefitted them or how it can benefit others,” Lalonde said.

“[It’s] just to inspire students to look for those connections, make those connections, or strengthen the connections they already have.”

The PSC hopes the week will raise awareness among students about the PSC and the services it provides.  

“I know with everything being online last year […] a lot of students might not know who we are, so [we’re trying to] just kind of getting that on-campus visibility,” Lalonde said.