One of the songs in Troye Sivan’s new album WILD perfectly captures the difficulties some students face when moving away from home to an unfamiliar and seemingly hostile new place. The lyrics tell how Sivan, on the phone with his mum “down to [his] skin and bones” struggles with his new life and finds no one around to confide in.

It’s unfortunate how much the song resonates with the experiences of students at Cambridge, but perhaps it’s hardly surprising. University is a massive leap for a lot of people, moving away from family and friends, effectively starting afresh without any real support network, can leave students feeling alone and vulnerable. University can also reveal the sort of things that quiet domestic life kept well hidden. As your friends enjoy a sweaty Sunday night at Life or spend it busy in the library, you begin to explode with all your mental health concerns.

My personal experiences of student welfare at Trinity last year were very positive. My tutor was compassionate and understanding. He made himself available whenever necessary, and provided guidance despite his lack of experience (it being his first year as tutor). Meanwhile the college nurse became a kind of friend (she really, really cared, which was great; perhaps what you need most when going through a mental health crisis). Trinity also has a chaplain, and even its own counselor, who are both available to students should they need them.

I also visited the University Counseling Service a few times last year. If you ask around you’ll learn how the UCS is a bit hit and miss, and I’m afraid in my case it was mostly ‘miss’. My counselor appeared uninterested, and was quick to recommend counseling as potentially harmful for me after our first session. The Senior Mental Health Advisor then saw and assessed me and felt that my counselor had made an error. She recommended I continue counseling with the UCS and assigned me back to my original counselor; the same one who believed I shouldn’t receive any counseling. Needless to say, after another session with her I didn’t go back to the UCS. It wasn’t because I took a stand – in our second meeting my counselor went to great lengths to discourage me from seeking another session. I was told I should perhaps only book one if I felt things were getting really bad in Easter term.

I’m a realist; I don’t think the UCS could possibly succeed in providing help for every student walking through its doors. However, my experience with the UCS wasn’t just unhelpful, but also rather damaging. I walked into my counselor’s office feeling rejected and walked out feeling even more rejected. For most of that day I wrongfully doubted the intentions of Trinity’s welfare staff, wondering if they really cared, thinking that after all “I’m little more than just a burden.” The consequences of my thinking could potentially have been catastrophic, had I not pulled myself out of it.

Whilst I’ve been lucky with my college, having heard stories from other students, there are obvious disparities in welfare provision between colleges. It’s a combination of those provisions, the resources available and their general interest in helping their students that sets some colleges apart. I’m certain other colleges have staff who are exceptionally motivated to help, but who are limited by a general lack of resources.

The UCS probably faces similar issues, with a lack of resources being compounded by oversubscription. Perhaps the counselor I was assigned isn’t a horrible person, just part of the machine trying to do the best she can in a difficult situation. She’s probably overworked and jaded; it’s hard not to feel jaded when you see so many young people’s lives collapse as they fall through the cracks.

Colleges clearly need to raise money to address the lack of resources available for student welfare, but where will this money come from? Trinity puts great effort into raising money through alumni events over the summer; perhaps other colleges should do the same.

In the meantime, it’s worth exploring options that don’t require additional resources.

It’s important to identify issues early on before they become difficult to solve. There needs to be more awareness of the services provided. I can’t remember when I heard of the UCS, but it definitely wasn’t during my first term, and I only heard about our college counselor in my second year. This seems to be a great time to change that, though, with the new wave of incoming Freshers. There is also an awful amount of stigma, which prevents people from discussing their problems with friends or colleagues, which in some cases makes matters worse. Students need to feel that the atmosphere around them is open and understanding, allowing them to speak freely and in as much detail as they wish about their mental health.