"I’m doing my senior thesis on mental illness, specifically on the campus community of Notre Dame. Very few people are comfortable talking about mental illness, which means that resources don’t get used. For my thesis, I’m collecting people’s stories to understand them. I want to understand the situation at Notre Dame, but I also want to share these stories and give a voice to those with mental illness. Various other college campuses have seen projects that created safe spaces. Notre Dame doesn’t have that yet. I want to help foster a climate that encourages people to talk about mental illness and educates peers to help connect individuals with the resources they need.

"I’m specifically focusing on working with informal, interpersonal relationship and peer support systems. There are formal systems in place, and structured programs…but some people don’t have time for it, or don’t prioritize it until they need it. But these support systems should be part of our daily dialogue, not just reactive. I feel like every person at Notre Dame has interacted with mental illness in some way, whether it’s personal, or a roommate, a friend, or someone down the hall. It can be really stressful for bystanders, too. And I want to empower bystanders so they know what to do, how to do it effectively, and how to foster a stronger and safer community.

"Right now, I’m starting with an online form to collect people’s stories. (Find the form here.) It’s completely anonymous. I just want to understand what people have gone through. And providing a place to share one’s story can be cathartic in a way. I hope there’ll be a response and we can get a dialogue going, so I can better understand the situation here and create something that’s valuable to this community in particular.

"Last semester…well, last semester sucked. I was depressed and had no clue what to do. I didn’t know how to talk to my friends, or what to tell them, or how to explain why I wasn’t leaving my room or going to classes anymore. And it becomes a hard thing to talk to your friends about. I love them, but I didn’t know how they’d react. So that’s why I feel, if we can talk about it more, it won’t be as big of an issue for when people are going through these situations. I want to develop something that’s sustainable, and valuable to use, that will last long after I graduate."