On March 18th, 25th and 26th, students at all four of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board’s secondary schools had the opportunity to listen to world-renowned speaker Dr. Karyn Gordon. A familiar face at the Board, Dr. Gordon was asked to come back once again to talk to the students about the every growing problem of anxiety and self-esteem. Dr. Gordon is a relationship expert for organizations and families, and has over 14 years of professional national media experience in TV, print and radio including CityLine, Chatelaine Magazine and “The Mom Show”.
A decision was made by the Sudbury Catholic Safe Schools Team to invite back Dr. Gordon, as the board was given funding from the Ministry of Education to provide students with resources that would support mental health initiatives. Dr. Gordon’s presentation entitled, “Spill Your Guts”, talks to students about healthy self-esteem with the main message for the students being that “your self-esteem can, and will dictate how you make decisions in your life, therefore positive self-esteem will result in good decisions.” Dr. Gordon went on to explain the three most important ideas to remember for a healthy attitude in life.
1. Stop blaming and focus on what you can control in your life.
2. Set realistic and achievable goals
3. Seek out people and resources to help you achieve these goals and support your healthy choices.
Dr. Gordon admitted that although this sounds easy, it isn’t necessarily so. She advised the students “ I know that it isn’t an easy process to have a healthy self-esteem, but it is definitely possible!” The students had the opportunity to ask questions after the presentations and were able to meet with her for a short time to talk about their own experiences.