Whether it is balancing work for AP classes with practices for winter sports or finding time to study for the SAT while working a part-time job, RM students are trekking through some of the most rewarding yet most difficult times of high school. 

Balancing academic and personal success can be overwhelming at times. Thus, every other Tuesday in room 253, BHip Club (pronounced ‘Be-Hip’) creates a community that can ease students’ stress and help them feel a little less overwhelmed at school. 

During their lunch meetings, a group of trained peer counselors welcome newcomers and regulars alike to pull up a chair and join their group conversation covering any variety of topics. 

Providing a wide range of counseling, from academic tips to mental health guidance, these RM students are willing to give their advice on any subject or just lend a listening ear. 

Club sponsor and IB coordinator Nancy Shay said, “[The club’s] main purpose is to give students opportunities to talk about issues that are important to them with other students who are going through it themselves or have gone through it fairly recently. Sometimes students are so much more comfortable talking to peers than to adults.” 

Though it is a new initiative that just kicked off this school year, the BHip Club is gaining traction among many RM students and has plans to expand far beyond its current bimonthly meetings. 

Recently, members of the BHip Club have visited homerooms during Rocket Time and collected questions from students seeking advice on school-related challenges, ranging from ‘How do you earn SSL hours?’ to ‘How do you deal with school drama and relationships?’

Many of these questions will be answered in the future. “We’re going to be recording and televising answers to some of these questions and maybe get them out once a week,” Ms. Shay said. 

“My freshman year would have been better if I had a resource like upperclassmen giving me some insight and advice on topics like how to avoid procrastination, how to get involved with clubs, etc.,” club president and junior Julia Craig said. “So, I like how I can help others figure out how to deal with their situations since it would’ve been helpful for me when I was a freshman.”