A new initiative at Hopkins, called “Hopkins Speaks Up” has recently surfaced and become wildly popular on Facebook and Youtube. Modeling Harvard’s Harvard Speaks Up, HSU is an in-progress website that will allow students from the entire Hopkins network (Homewood, Peabody, the med campus, and so on) to post 2-4 minute videos of themselves speaking about personal struggles they have encountered, and how they dealt/are dealing with those struggles. It aims to open a dialogue about mental health, resources for receiving help, and steps to personal happiness.
In the public setting of the Brody Café, I sat down with Hopkins Speaks Up member, Julia Felicione, to learn more about the mission of the website, and her own journey that led her to the venture. Julia is a sophomore who is both on the project committee and posted her own video that received overwhelmingly positive acclaim.
“It’s just really important having gone through my own issues,” she said, sitting comfortably cross-legged in a blue Brody chair. “I made my own video, and for me, a really big part of recovery was reaching out to people. I want people to see what that can be like for them.”
She informed me that the most essential goal of this website is to generate an open line of communication between students who are going through their own issues, and perhaps students who have progressed past their issues and are available as resources. With such a large project focused on revolution, I had to wonder: if there needed to be such change on campus, what was the problem to begin with?
“I think the videos are important to start conversation (not just for the person sharing), and to find closure as well,“ said Julia. “I feel like it’s so quiet on campus. The isolation and loneliness perpetuate the problem.”
Julia proceeded to tell me about her journey to gain the courage to make and post her own video.
“The first time I heard about the initiative, I found out new members can make videos. My immediate response was ‘yeah, I’m doing it.’ For me, it was kind of a natural thing. But this semester I had a lot. I had an eating disorder [for five years, and in recovery for one] and I thought I was past it.” But, as Julia went on to say, her anxiety returned swiftly.
“I started to isolate myself again and it was really hard to come out of it. I wasn’t sleeping for two, three days at a time. But what I eventually decided was it was a continuation type of thing. I’m going to deal with this every single day for a while. And that’s okay.”
Somehow, the words “And that’s okay” became so real. In that moment, it really hit me, an outsider, how impactful HSU could be. It wasn’t just an Intro Psych powerpoint defining “anxiety” or “depression” in Comic Sans. This was a face to a name, a friend with a struggle, an honest person who knew this battle as if she’d fought it a thousand times.
“I’ve seen what life can be like outside of all of these issues, and I know I can get there again,” said Julia with striking confidence. “I want people to know…there are ups and there are downs, and we can talk about them.”
Though Julia’s video received a wealth of positive feedback, the struggle to open a dialogue has not yet been entirely combatted.
“When I posted the video and got all the positive feedback [as well as] people telling me they were struggling, no one came up to me and started a dialogue in person. People have personally messaged me, commented on the video, texted me. The ultimate goal,” she continued, “is face to face conversations. As soon as the stigma’s gone it will be easier.”
“What advice would you give to a student who is hesitant to begin a dialogue about mental illness, or personal struggles?” I asked.
“What I would say to someone just getting ready to start that dialogue, and this is easy to say being out of it, but take the plunge. It is the single most petrifying thing I had to do, and the single most petrifying thing this person will have to do. [If I had] owned up to it [sooner], I would’ve gotten over it much faster.”
After thanking Julia about twelve million times for talking to me, we parted. Me, still buzzing with all of her inspirational words, and she, effortlessly striding into Brody to put some finishing touches on her resume. Though Julia explicitly told me that she still worked at her struggle with anxiety, it was clear that her efforts to combat it were going strong, and her fight against the stigma would be just as successful.
Watch some videos, share this article, and start talking. We owe it to ourselves. The website is set to launch in mid-April.
While the finishing touches are put on the website, you can watch the trailer here!
Watch Julia’s video and learn how she’s continuing her pursuit for self-love and community education.
If you’d like to get involved and make a video, email hopkinsspeaksup@gmail.com.
image: http://www.ncbhs.org/sites/default/files/iStock_000014180358Small.jpg