St. Thomas University student Mitchell Syvret-Caplin appeared anxious as he awaited guests to the first tea ceremony of the school year at the Wabanaki Resource Centre Wednesday. Fidgeting and adjusting his button-up shirt before a camera and two journalism students before the event, he took a deep breath and settled into the conversation.
Syvret-Caplin has learned a lot about controlling his anxieties. As a high school student, he would often have panic and anxiety attacks, and would be stopped in his tracks by nervous breakdowns.
“I was a very stressed person,” he said. “I’ve learned to ease a little bit, and calm myself a little bit. It’s helped me that way and I hope these sessions help some other students too.”
Syvret-Caplin said students spend too much time thinking, but not acting, on stresses like assignments, exams, finances and relationships.
“By coming here it allows them to just take time away from that,” he said. “That’s what people need is just to debrief and ground themselves.”
The ceremonies will take place every other week, with the next one on Wednesday, Oct. 29. During December, tea will be served every week until exam period, Dec. 3 and 10. This is the second year Syvret-Caplin has hosted the ceremonies at St. Thomas.
The ceremonies are a celebration of First Nations culture, said Syvret-Caplin. Some of the world’s earliest teas were drank in ceremonies across North America, long before European contact.
Only two more students came to the fall-themed ceremony where toasted nut brûlée tea and apple cider tea were served. Syvret-Caplin was not worried about the turnout, saying it didn’t matter how many people came out, and turnout would likely grow anyway.
“From organizing events within my small communities, any turnout is a good turnout,” he said. “As time goes, like last year, the demand gets stronger and stronger.”
