ASHLAND, Ohio – Sarah Watson, a junior at Ashland University, has earned national recognition for her powerful and relentless work on mental health awareness, as she was selected for the Outstanding Peer Educator Award at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ (NASPA) Peer Education Conference, held in Boston on Jan. 18.
Watson emerged as the winner from four finalists for the Outstanding Peer Educator Award, which recognizes students’ contributions to campus peer education efforts and leadership.
“Sarah is absolutely phenomenal and richly deserving of this special honor,” said Janel Molnar, director of recreation and wellness at AU. “She has truly taken a terrible tragedy and has made it her mission to make sure each person in the AU community and beyond knows they are valued and there is help available.”
Since joining the AU campus in the fall of 2022, Watson has developed a series of mental health initiatives, first focusing her efforts within the athletic department. A member of the Eagles’ women’s soccer team, she bravely shared the personal story of her father’s suicide while emphasizing the importance of mental health with her coaches, teammates and other student-athletes. Her message of “it’s OK to not be OK” resonated and she was recognized with the department’s Perseverance & Courage Award.
Watson then felt called to make a larger impact and steer mental health initiatives throughout campus. As a sophomore, she became the AU Wellness Intern and initiated the Student Wellness Team, a group that has grown to 16 peer educators who are all striving to promote wellness initiatives across campus.
Today, Watson serves as president of the Student Wellness Team, and in that role, focuses on wellness education, assists with the development of all student wellness programs for the university and themes for each awareness month. She also is a member of Eagle Well and the Mental Health Task Force, university-wide committees composed of students, faculty and staff.
Molnar noted that due primarily to Watson’s efforts, “currently, 64% of our campus has been impacted by a wellness program throughout their college experience.”
In addition, Watson facilitates a number of QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) sessions throughout the year for both students and faculty/staff and she has been a keynote speaker for the Suicide Prevention & Awareness Walk, coordinated by the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Ashland County.
During the fall of 2024, Watson spoke at the dedication of AU’s new suicide awareness bench, which was donated from Josh’s Benches for Awareness organization. She also chose the inscription for the bench, “Stay another day, keep going,” a phrase that Watson introduced to Ashland and now “campus is using as (its) own,” according to Molnar.
Upon receiving the Outstanding Peer Educator Award, Watson said, “Wellness has always been a huge passion of mine … in different ways throughout the many years of my life. I wanted to
first start off by thanking God because this is His plan in my life. My father died by suicide when I was 10 years old, but it led me to serving my community and making a difference out of a tragedy. I strongly believe God didn’t put me through something like that if it wasn’t to help others.”
She continued, “Here I am today as the peer educator, wellness intern and wellness team president of Ashland University making every day hopefully just a little bit better for everyone. Ashland has given me a second home and I’m thankful that I’m part of a university that allows me to lead student wellness and have the opportunities that I do.”
NASPA, the professional home for the field of student affairs, is dedicated to fulfilling the promise of higher education through guiding principles of integrity, innovation, inclusion and inquiry. Each year, NASPA recognizes the outstanding contributions of members who are transforming higher education through exceptional programs, innovative services and effective administration.