Syracuse University (NY) student Kendall Palazzi created a campus chapter of IfYoureReadingThis, an organization that allows students to discuss issues they’re dealing with through posted letters. Other campus community members can then connect with them to help them feel seen. Issues range from eating disorders to anxiety, grief, depression, body image, LGBTQIA+ concerns and more.
Student Shaina Shifman told The Daily Orange that she posted a letter about discovering and understanding her sexuality, plus her coming out experience, to both heal and be part of a mental health awareness organization. “I just hope that it would resonate with people, for those who are struggling with the same thing I did, that it would make them feel like it’s a little less challenging, and there’s a lot more people going through it that you had no idea would be,” she said.
“A lot of people have reached out to me and been like, ‘I was in a bad head space today and decided to go on the IfYoureReadingThis Syracuse page and was able to do some self-care and pull myself out of it a little,’” Palazzi told the paper. “Little things that make me think, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool.’”
Learn more about IfYoureReadingThis at Syracuse here. And learn about the national organization here.
