Lessons on finding balance and wellbeing in the fast-paced life of HKS

When you think back on your time at Harvard Kennedy School, what were some of the main challenges you faced around mental health and wellbeing?

One of my challenges was learning how to find balance in a fast-paced environment. I know this was true for many of my peers as well, especially mid-career students who were not only returning to school after years away but also have families, children, partners, and professional responsibilities outside of HKS. The academic and social pace can feel relentless, and the culture of wanting to do everything often made that balance impossible.

Harvard offers excellent, often free mental health care—truly some of the best I have seen in higher education—but many students either did not know it was available or felt stigma about using it. As a licensed mental health professional, I could see the quality of the resources and the missed opportunities when students hesitated to reach out. That gap between resources and awareness was one of the reasons I became so committed to advocacy through my roles as VP of Health, Safety, and Wellbeing in the Kennedy School Student Government and the Mental Health and Drug Policy Caucus.

What would you tell current students about setting realistic expectations for themselves—academically and personally—so they can thrive rather than just “get through” graduate school?

I would recommend not trying to do everything. Harvard Kennedy School is overflowing with opportunities, and you will not be able to take them all on. Thriving here means being intentional. Ask yourself: “Why am I here? What are the few things I want to prioritize?” When you choose with purpose, you protect your energy and create more meaningful experiences.

I would also remind students that balance will look different for everyone. For some, it means making space for children and family life. For others, it is time for creativity, sports, or community engagement. There is no single Harvard standard for wellbeing, and you should not measure yourself against others. Your balance is valid, whatever it may look like.

And finally, remember that support exists, and it is about finding what is right for you. Harvard’s services are accessible and high-quality, but many students either do not know about them or wait until they are in crisis. Part of my leadership role at HKS was to normalize the message that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

What advice do you wish someone had given you at the start of graduate school about managing stress and mental health?

Practicing leadership begins with your own wellbeing. At the start, I wish someone had reminded me that sustaining yourself is not optional—it is the foundation of being able to serve others. Graduate school can make you feel like you have to push through and prove yourself constantly, but resilience comes from knowing when to rest, reach out, or re-center.

I also wish I had been encouraged earlier to lean into community. With such an international student body, stigma around mental health shows up in very different ways. For some, it is natural to talk about stress. For others, it feels taboo. Creating spaces where we could simply check in with each other—“How are you, really?”—helped normalize those conversations. Especially during moments of global uncertainty, such as shifts in U.S. policy that weighed heavily on international students, those communities of care became essential.

Why do you think mental health is especially critical for graduate students preparing for careers in public policy and public service?

Public service is ultimately about people, and people carry visible and invisible wounds. If we, as future leaders, do not learn how to sustain our own wellbeing, we risk burning out and reproducing systems that lack empathy and humanity.

Mental health is not only personal resilience; it is also a professional responsibility. Leaders who can pause, reflect, and care for themselves are better able to care for others, listen deeply, and make decisions with integrity. That is why I believe Harvard has such an important role to play here. It cannot only be known for academic excellence; it must also model a culture of wellbeing.

During my time at HKS, I worked to advocate for that shift—through initiatives like tabling in the HKS Sunshine Lobby, Building Bridges events, the University-wide Harvard Student Wellbeing Week in April 2025, organizing events with experts from the helping field, and proposals to embed wellbeing resources into course syllabi. These efforts were about more than awareness; they were about showing that wellbeing is part of practicing leadership. It is not an afterthought—it is essential.

Nathalie Robelot Timtchenko MC/MPA 2025, LMHC, MA-ET is a licensed mental health counselor, expressive arts therapist, and advocate for trauma-informed mental health policy with more than a decade of clinical experience. She has worked extensively with individuals, families, and communities across cultures, specializing in trauma, displacement, crisis response, and complex mental health challenges.

In 2022, after over eight years of living in Kyiv, Nathalie founded First Aid of the Soul, a nonprofit that has since reached more than 17,500 Ukrainians with accessible psychosocial and emotional support services in response to Russia’s war. Her expertise lies in bridging direct therapeutic practice with policy-level advocacy to expand access to care in humanitarian and crisis contexts.

Nathalie holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy from Lesley University, the founding institution for expressive arts therapies. She is a professional member of several international associations of psychotherapists and creative arts therapists.

Most recently, Nathalie earned her Mid-Career Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where she served as Chair of the Student Wellbeing Council, Vice President for Health, Safety, and Wellbeing on the Kennedy School Student Government, and Co-Chair of the Ukraine Caucus and Mental Health & Drug Policy Caucus.

Photos courtesy of Nathalie Robelot Timtchenko