Howling Success: Kaylyn Poole

Over the last few years, promoting mental health and wellness for NC State students, faculty and staff has been a significant focus of the Wolfpack community. 

Few students have done more to promote mental and physical wellness at NC State and beyond than Kaylyn Poole, a fourth-year political science student. 

Poole works as a Mental Health Ambassador at NC State, has advocated for mental health legislation through her work as a Senior Oaks Leadership Scholar, is the co-president of the NC State chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and works as a facility operations program assistant for Wellness and Recreation. 

“I think mental health has always been a thing that I’ve been aware of and wanted to advocate for,” Poole said. “I feel like college was really where that blossomed and became something that is no longer just on my mind, it’s a passion.” 

Promoting Campus Mental Health

Founded in 2015 and moved under Prevention Services’ umbrella in 2018, NC State’s Mental Health Ambassadors (MHA) program consists of a group of graduate and undergraduate students who are trained in peer-to-peer mental health education to break down barriers for all students to access support or treatment on campus.

I just wanted to be part of a group of students who wanted to better our NC State community and really help our fellow students.

This work includes classroom presentations, collaborating with campus partners, and putting on various events designed to support mental health and wellness at NC State, such as “Pause for Paws,” which features trained mental health therapy dogs from the Canines for Service Organization.

“I think the Mental Health Ambassadors program is extremely important,” Poole said. “Obviously, in the last few years, we’ve been going through some mental health struggles on campus. And having a background in mental health advocacy before I joined MHA, I just wanted to be part of a group of students who wanted to better our NC State community and really help our fellow students. So for me, it’s special having a group of students that have a variety of different majors, backgrounds and all that, but we all have a common goal of mental health on campus.”

For the leaders of the MHA program, such as Outreach and Resilience Specialist Christy Sigmon, having peer educators like Poole is invaluable. 

Sigmon explained that the type of peer-to-peer education a student like Poole provides is instrumental in reducing the stigma around mental health and normalizing the idea that any student can face mental health struggles throughout their college journey. 

“She’s very passionate about her work providing peer education,” Sigmon said. “She loves the aspect of getting good knowledge out to our student population that can get them connected to resources, but she’s also very passionate about reducing mental health stigma in general to really help support our greater campus community. Kaylyn also just has a great energy in the meetings. She’s very easy going, very interactive with the students, with us, the staff that are in there.”

In her role leading NAMI, which is dedicated to creating safe, welcoming and open communication about mental illness, Poole creates and leads campus-wide meetings and activities designed to break down the stigma around mental health and provide coping mechanisms and resources for students.

“It means a lot to me to be able to not only provide my resources, knowledge or whatever I can, but also listen and learn from others as well,” Poole said. 

National Mental Health Advocacy 

Poole has been able to take her mental health work far beyond Raleigh. She’s entering her third year as an Oaks Leadership Senior Scholar, a scholars program focused on leadership and advocacy. 

In both of her years in the program thus far, Poole has been able to craft a piece of legislation related to mental health and present it to leaders in Washington, D.C. 

During the 2022-23 school year, Poole championed the Pursuing Equity in Mental Health Act, a bill designed to remove barriers for disadvantaged communities for mental health care. She led a panel discussion with another scholar, and, in the spring semester, met with members of Congress in the United States Capitol to advocate for the legislation. 

“Just from a political science standpoint, it’s amazing being in that congressional office and in that realm,” Poole said. “But then from the mental health side of it, I think it’s so impactful. These are people in positions of leadership and power that have the ability to be able to support mental health in the way that I want it to be supported.”

During the 2023-24 school year, Poole got a chance to advocate for a piece of legislation even nearer and dearer to her heart. 

Poole supported the Supporting the Mental Health of Educators and Staff Act of 2023, aimed at providing teachers with mental health resources both in and outside the classroom. In addition to again getting to meet with legislators about her bill, Poole crafted an opinion-editorial article, titled “A healthier way to educate,” which was published in Technician, NC State’s student newspaper. 

Being able to do something for teachers means a lot.

For Poole, a personal family connection to the world of education made raising awareness for that particular mental health topic especially impactful. 

“When they emailed me back that it had been published, I was actually in the library, and I almost started crying,” Poole said. “This is amazing, now a larger community can see it. My sister is a high school teacher, and she works in a special education classroom. I’ve seen her do so much for her students, so being able to do something for her and her fellow teachers means a lot.”

Award-Winning Wellness Work

One of the best ways to care for one’s mental health is through physical exercise, and Poole works as both a facility operations program assistant and an advisory board member. 

As a facility operations program assistant, Poole works with about 40 student supervisors, hiring student employees, handling customer service situations and organizing training sessions to deal with injuries and emergencies. 

That training proved vital in April when a team of student workers sprang into action to save the life of a Wellness and Recreation patron who went into cardiac arrest during a workout. 

I couldn’t ask for a better student leader than Kaylyn.

Emmanuel Akogyeram, Wellness and Recreation’s assistant director of facilities operations, called Poole ‘one of a kind,’ and said that in the decade-plus he’s been in his role, he’s never worked with a more focused, mature, detail-oriented student. 

“Working with her is like working with another professional staff member,” Akogyeram said. “That’s the caliber of student employee she is. The student employees have a great deal of respect for her, and that’s because of the reputation she has created for herself in terms of just being an employee. When she’s around, I have peace of mind that everything is going to be running as smoothly as possible. I couldn’t ask for a better student leader than Kaylyn.” 

For her work during the 2023-24 school year, Poole received Wellness and Recreation’s John F. Miller Award, given annually to a program assistant. 

“It was really special, not only for me but for my staff as well,” Poole said. “A lot of my job is based on supporting the supervisors here in the facility. Everything I do is to help train and prepare them for situations like (the April emergency situation). So it felt really good to win it for them, and also my supervisors here.” 

Moving Forward

While Poole puts in so much time and effort to promote mental health and wellness on campus, she makes sure she’s taking care of her own as well. 

Poole enjoys working out at Wellness and Recreation, and often plays intramural 7-on-7 soccer with a group of friends. She also enjoys attending NC State football, basketball and soccer games with her friends and family, or cheering on her beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. 

She also likes to visit the NC State Creamery for some Howling Cow ice cream, or explore new downtown restaurants with her friends. 

After graduating from NC State this spring, Poole hopes to attend law school, with the goal of either practicing law or going into public policy. What she is certain about, however, is she wants to continue her work advocating for mental health and helping people. 

“I really have a passion for helping others,” Poole said. “I want to step out into the world and know that I am making a difference and supporting those around me who have really earned amazing support.”