Located on the north side of Rice’s campus close to the Recreation Center is the Wellbeing and Counseling Center. This center offers a number of professional and free resources for students, from one-on-one therapy sessions to well-being fairs and events. Going to college is a big transition for everyone — for many of us, we are adjusting to living in a new place for the first time while also balancing academics, jobs, making friends and other obligations. Rice encourages students to prioritize their mental and physical well-being throughout their college journey, and an impactful club that supports this is the Rice Health Advisors (RHA) program. The RHA program is a peer-driven well-being program that supports students with health education, supplies and peer guidance, and each residential college has a team of trained RHAs who are available to help students with any needs that they may have.
Becoming an RHA starts with an application and a one-semester long class. From Mental Health First Aid training to developing a proposed event and health intervention tailored to a need of college students, we learn about the resources that are available on campus while we undergo training on how to best support others. After analyzing results from a quick needs survey, I developed an intervention event that was focused on self-care. Counselors and staff from different departments also pitched in by sharing their best practices to help students through difficult situations. After the class and deliverables are completed, students become part of the RHA team. A really unique part of the program is that students of all grades and majors can join the team. Our RHA team is made of humanities majors, engineering students and STEM majors — all students that bring diverse interests to the conversation.
One of my favorite events that we host as Sid RHAs each semester is S’mores in the Quad, where we provide materials to make smores and bring popsicle sticks for people to write whatever they are stressed about to throw into the fire. This usually happens right after Sid goes to the ice rink at the Galleria for a final exam study break, and it's something we all look forward to each year! RHAs also support new students during Orientation Week. At Sid, we presented on different wellbeing resources at Rice and were available to students if they were overwhelmed or needed to talk about anything. We also planned a yoga event for O-Week, and it has become a fun tradition that has carried on!
Every RHA at Rice is trained to support students in many ways. Whether it be through providing basic first aid and medical supplies (advil, tylenol, bandaids, etc.) or talking through difficult or exciting conversations, being an RHA is an awesome way to give back to your residential college and Rice. As a future medical student, learning how to prioritize mental well-being and supporting others in doing the same has been an invaluable tool.
-Maya, Sid Richardson ‘25 (Published 6/25/25)
