By Gunner Young/reporter

NW counseling will host a mental health forum in the library from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on March 1 about overcoming the obstacles that students face.

Among the speakers will be NW counselor Brentom Jackson who is organizing the event.

“We want to hear from students about some of the obstacles they are facing here at TCC when it comes to issues of mental health,” he said. “This will help us formulate better ideas for mental health programming in the future.”

Students and faculty are welcome, and this is not a typical forum because it will encourage participation and a “talk-back session” type of environment, Jackson said.

“So, in essence, the speakers come from tons of backgrounds and are just as varied as our student population because the speakers are our student population,” he said.

Speakers will be students that Jackson has worked with in the past he feels will be best equipped to assist TCC students with their mental health issues.

“These students are now in a place that they feel comfortable sharing their story and the strategies they used to overcome some of the issues they faced,” Jackson said.