Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — One Dripping Springs High School student has created a new club to help her classmates explore educational and career paths related to psychology and mental health.
Brielle DeVries, a sophomore, has always been interested in psychology and she came to the realization that there was not a space at DSHS for students to explore the subject together outside of the one class offered. So, she took it upon herself to go through the process of creating the club, known as Psych Society, which included ensuring that they met the minimum of five people interested — now at least 20 people — submitting forms and finding a teacher sponsor.
“I really wanted to create a club that wasn't just about learning facts, but about what actually applies to psychology, how that goes to our own lives and understanding ourselves and others,” she explained. “I thought it would be a great way to bring people together as a community for our school.”
Each month, the club will have a topic that ties into the time of year, mental health holidays, etc. At the meetings — held twice a month — the first session will be student-led with activities related to the topic, including presentations, debates, games, case studies and projects, while the second session will feature guest speakers, such as a mental health professional, to talk about the topic.
DeVries also has a couple of goals in mind to hold a mental health career fair in March to invite local professionals to come, have booths with information and talk with students about their career.
She would also like to see next September, a community-wide event that is in correlation with Suicide Prevention Month, with various organizations to give the community an overview of how mental health crisis situations are handled in the county. At this event, the club would invite dispatchers, a Hays County Sheriff’s Office mental health officer, Mobile Crisis Unit, EMS and an emergency room social worker for presentations and to be part of a panel discussion.
Having this type of club at DSHS is important because, according to DeVries, being at this stage of life, students are starting to think about college and what’s next after high school. This club could help those who are interested in pursuing a career in psychology or mental health.
“We don't really have a lot of psychology classes at school. We have one. That’s great, but I feel like we could do something more that's outside of school to where we can really bring in activities and involve our community and just the whole learning process of psychology and how it all goes together,” DeVries said.
DeVries plans to attend college to major in psychology and minor in criminal justice: “I think that the whole criminal psychology aspect is really interesting to me, so that's definitely something I want to do, which definitely inspired me to start this club in the first place.”
For the students who are interested in joining the club, DeVries shared that she will be putting up flyers around the school with contact information and other details.
