STORY AND PHOTOS BY
SARAH MAHAN
Helmi Henkin
Class: Sophomore
Major: Psychology and French
Hometown: Menlo Park, California
Fun fact: Has visited 75 countries on seven continents.
Can you tell us a little about your involvements here at UA?
I’m really involved in my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta; I’m the REAL Wellness consultant for that. Kind of related to that, I’m the secretary for The National Alliance on Mental Illness and performed in this year’s Mental Health Monologues. And also related, I’m on the executive board for Not on My Campus, which focuses on sexual assault prevention and education. Another big thing I’m involved in is Crimson Kindness. I’m a team leader right now. I’m also campus correspondent [for Her Campus], so I’m in charge of overseeing all the writing that we do along with my co-campus correspondent. [It’s] an online magazine that anyone can read and anyone can be on staff. It’s tailored to women, so we produce a lot of lifestyle content. We’re pretty new on campus. I like it because it gives people a voice. I like talking to people and making them feel special.
What is your favorite aspect of your extracurriculars? Do they all involve something you’re passionate about?
My passion is helping people, and you can see that clearly through making sure mental health and sexual assault resources on campus are up to par or putting up encouraging posters through Crimson Kindness. With Her Campus, it’s more helping people by giving them this outlet to express themselves, which from personal experience is so important. It’s similar to my position in my sorority because they can come to me to talk about anything confidentially. Having someone to talk to is so important no matter what your problem is. Generally, I like to involve myself in activities, at least the ones I spend the most time on, that spread kindness and spread positivity to make this campus safer and more welcoming environment for everyone.
How do you expect your involvement will shape your future?
They all mean so much to me in different ways. My future plan is to go to graduate school and get a doctorate in clinical psychology, specializing in adolescents with mental illness. A lot of these involvements will help because I’m working with adolescents all the time. I feel like all of my experience is going to be useful later in life, but that’s not the only reason I do it. I hope that through my participation in these causes, people see what I’m doing and get excited too. It starts with one, but you need everyone to pitch in to create change.
What advice would you give to other Honors Students, especially those just getting involved with the Honors College?
My advice is to definitely get involved. I’m from California, and I didn’t know a single person coming here. Before I came, I knew getting involved was going to be how I made friends and personalized my campus experience. I know in college they say not to stretch yourself too thin, to not pick a gillion things just for resume boosters, and I completely agree with that. How you find your people in this school of 37,000 is going to these clubs, where they have similar interests and passions as you. I’m personally affected by all of the causes that I am a part of, and I feel so passionately about everything from Her Campus to Crimson Kindness or mental health. The Honors College has also helped with that too, through organizations like 57 Miles. There’s so much out there. You just got to look for it because no one is going to hand it to you on a silver platter.
