Students Participate in REFLECT Fellowship Program

Four Northampton Community College (NCC) students were accepted into the REFLECT mental wellness summer fellowship, a 7-week experience with students from Lehigh University, University of Pennsylvania (U Penn), and Arcadia University. The fellowship has been preparing them to develop and implement mental wellness and suicide prevention programming and initiatives at NCC during the 2026-2027 academic year. 

Counseling psychology major, Michelle Attarian, and psychology majors, Olivia Shea, Miranda Miller, and Italia Gethers, were selected after applying to the fellowship program, which takes place both virtually and in-person at U Penn until July 31.  

The goal of the fellowship is to empower students to break down barriers to open and authentic conversation on campus, building critical research-proven protective factors for mental well-being on campus, while simultaneously gaining career-ready certification and transferrable professional skills. Students engage in positive psychology workshops; community and civic engagement strategies; “QPR” suicide prevention training; peer dialogue practices; leadership style identification workshops; exploring empathy as an impact tool; self-care strategies; toolkits for navigating major life and career transitions; and more. 

"These NCC students all have a passion for a particular area in their field, and they want to be able to provide support to their fellow students at NCC through the type of programming they develop with REFLECT. These students are taking on a lot of responsibility, and we should be proud of them," says Dr. Jen Bradley, psychology professor at NCC and campus mentor for the fellows.  

Bradley, along with the NCC THRIVE committee and Ariane Medero, counseling professor, have been helping to guide these students as they work through this fellowship. The fellowship develops students' leadership abilities and gives them a deeper understanding of mental wellness and suicide prevention programming.  

“We can't do enough for this area,” says Bradley. “Anxiety and depression are at an all-time high among college students, and we need to do everything we can do to support our students."