The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/mental-health/page/2/)
No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to explain to you the intricacy of a razor. I don’t really want to, either. I figured out myself one night how to take it apart, how to free the blades, and it’s my secret. Its marks on my skin are also my secrets: the deep, linear slices from days I was just angry, a little lopsided from days I couldn’t stop shaking. Those were the beginning days, though.
A few weeks ago, I along with nine other Cornellians had the opportunity to travel to the University of Pennsylvania for the first annual Unmasking the Ivy League: A Conference on Mental Health. Through the event we had the chance to learn and collaborate with our Ivy peers and see how we can improve the way that we look at mental health on our own campus. One of the biggest takeaways from the conference for me was understanding the scale of this issue on college campuses. With the success of Mental Health Awareness week last semester and a number of events that groups like Minds Matter host regularly to create a campus dialogue on the issue amongst diverse communities, we are moving towards a healthier campus. That being said, our current system of mental health care is not without its flaws. An issue that the Cornell delegation brought to the table was the conversation on leaves of absence.
Editor’s Note: This story is being published anonymously for the safety and protection of the author and those involved.
I didn’t plan to spend finals week in the mental ward of Cayuga Medical Center. Was it traumatic? That would be an understatement. Was it worth it? Yes.
Today marks the start of the first Mental Health Awareness Week, which lasts until Oct. 23 and will feature events around campus designed to promote the awareness and understanding of mental health issues. “I feel like a lot of students are afraid to come out of their comfort zones and talk about mental health, especially with Cornell’s atmosphere, but they need to know that people are going to help them,” said Maria Chak ’18, one of the week’s organizers and Student Assembly vice president of outreach. The week kicks off with a talk by Frank Warren, also known as “The Most Trusted Stranger in America” and the founder of PostSecret, a website that posts anonymous submissions of “secrets” sent in from all over the country. PostSecret begun in 2005 as an art project when Warren asked people to submit their secrets on creatively decorated postcards.