Year 12 students recently had the opportunity to hear from mental health advocate Nic Newling. Below, two students share their thoughts on Nic’s presentation.

On Thursday 7 March, Newington was lucky to have Nic Newling visit the school to give a talk on mental health as well as to share about his experiences surrounding the subject. He spoke of his challenges with the diagnosis of his bipolar disorder, and the traumatic suicide of his brother and used these as a springboard to help us to understand this challenging time in our lives and to raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention. Through Nic’s conversational storytelling style, the talk made for a very captivating explanation of the twists and turns of mental health as well as the steps to take should we be faced with similar challenges and the importance of reaching out.

Finn Tentij (12/LE)

Nic Newling’s experiences with bipolar and the tragic suicide of his brother were very educational and impactful. Mr Newling provided us with insights most people our age would not have any experience with themselves. Although mental health issues are becoming increasingly more prevalent in our world, it often goes unnoticed, hence why we were heard this talk in the first place. His story provided us with information on how we can help understand those affected by mental illness and how we can help them. The use of his story allowed us to understand this practically and thus was far more impactful.

Christian Kadi (12/LE)