![Minutes before the Activities Fair in the gym, president Abhi Gowda ‘26 prepares the stall for his club Helping Hands, Sept. 4. A relatively new club, Helping Hands was co-started by Gowda and focuses on assisting the homeless, and just last year they succeeded in raising a couple hundred donations to send to shelters. This year, they have goals to expand, with hopes to increase volunteer opportunities and take in-person trips to shelters, as well as extend their help beyond just homeless people. “The Activities Fair gives a lot of underclassmen the opportunity to really get to know the Canyon culture, and it gives them many opportunities for service and volunteering,” Gowda said. “[Through the Activities Fair,] I hope to find a bunch of new and passionate members about our club and just get our name out there and spread awareness to the cause that we’re fighting for.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1-2-1200x885.jpg)
![The winter guard team makes fifth place at the state championship finals in the Denver Coliseum, March 30. The team performed to Barnes Country's “Glitter and Gold,” lead by coaches Margo Sanford, Blair Bickerton and Anna Orgren. In their class there were a total of nine groups participating, and the top five who made it to finals received a plaque. “[Walking onto the stage] is very nerve-wracking, but also very exciting as well. When you first start color guard there's a lot of anxiety and uncertainty when you first perform in front of an audience, but once you've done it for a while, it starts to become the best part of the season,” Ella West ‘25 said. “It's very fulfilling to see an audience react to something you've put your heart and soul into.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Both-socal-media-nd-website-main-1-1200x846.jpg)
![April marks the 25th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, created by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). This month is to spread awareness of the harassment, assault and abuse that happens around the world. The symbol that represented the month was a teal ribbon; however, some survivors of assault create different symbols and movements like the TikTok trend in 2022, where survivors would tattoo Medusa on their body, in honor of her backstory in Greek Mythology. “I don't think [this month is known] at all. I rarely see anybody talk about it. I rarely see much of an emphasis on posting it online, or much discussion about it, and I feel like there needs to be way more discussion,” an anonymous source said. “I think just validating every experience that a person has gone through, regardless of the degree of it, the severity, is an essential step into making sure that people are aware that this is a very real problem in a society and that we need to do better in addressing it.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_0011-1200x900.jpg)
Nicholas TeSelle ‘25. Some know him as a tech director for theater productions or the president of the Student Ambassador Program or even as a member of National Honor Society (NHS), Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), National English Honor Society (NEHS)and more. But what most people don’t know about him is that he’s also an entrepreneur.
Connecting gaming and mental health all at once
“WayLessSad” will be a gaming server where you play as if on any other platform that can detect if you are struggling with your mental health. The AI that works for the server is named “Anastasia” and it is the main component in making it all work.
“WayLessSad” has multiple functions but the main focus is mental health. “WayLessSad” raises money through selling merchandise and donating 10% of every product to mental health charities.
“The purpose of way less sad is to make more mental health awareness, to break that stigma of mental health isn’t a thing,” TeSelle said.
How It Works
It uses your statistics between suicide rates in your area, your username, the time you play, things you say into chat and things that seem to be triggers for you. If it seems you need help you will be sent a notification saying something along the lines of, “you seem to be struggling right now”, and get you in contact with a licensed professional to get you help.
All starts with an idea
The idea of “WayLessSad” started when Nick was 13. While his parents were going through divorce TeSelle would turn to video games to cope with his emotions.
“When my parents were going through a divorce when I was younger, I used to use video games to run away from the sadness and what was really going on. I think that my main goal became to be able to create a community that could facilitate that.”
The idea of “WayLessSad” is to be a gaming platform aimed at raising mental health awareness and providing support to those in need of help.
The Man Himself
Nick TeSelle plays a major role in the tech theater department here at Rock Canyon. When asked how he balances it all he responded with “hope, willpower and tears,” TeSelle said. TeSelle has his day scheduled from the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep with school, extracurriculars, meetings and a social life falling in between.
“He’s very positive all the time, and just is able to understand when someone is going through something, and knows what to do to be able to help them get through whatever,” His girlfriend Natalie Patterson ‘26 said.
