To whomever this may concern,
My name is Jennifer Iospa. I’m currently a senior at NEST+m, a high school on the Lower East Side in NYC.
Like every high school student I’ve had my fair share of experience with fluctuating mental health. I’ve watched friends of mine struggle and watched as their health deteriorated. I’ve lost friends to suicide- people who you’d never know were hurting because their lives seemed picturesque- a dream to anyone else. I’ve watched friends attempt to take their lives because they didn’t believe they deserved acceptance. I’ve watched it all through the lense of someone who should be a child but yet I’ve seen it all, more than the ‘adults’ around me have seen. That’s the thing about human beings – we often think we are outsmarting one another. We think that just because we are “children” or “adults” the depth of our knowledge or comprehension of the world around us is more complex than it may be. In reality, there’s a lot we can’t see. We cannot see through the struggles of those around us. We watch them frown and we can watch them cry but seeing isn’t understanding. We throw about our “what’s” and “why’s” in hopes of figuring it all out- but it doesn’t work that way. We dedicate days and months as a collective to the recognition and awareness of mental health or suicide , but after the allotted time for the cause is over, we continue with life as usual. We stop recognizing the needs of others and the need for conversation.
I don’t believe in dedicating time to a cause, I believe in commitment. I believe that the only way we can battle issues of mental health and suicide is head on, all the time not only when it fits in its slot in our hectic calendars. After all, posting a quote about awareness once a year and wearing a ribbon across your chest won’t fix the problem at hand: the lack of recognition people get.
We are at fault for this because as a society we don’t give voice to the silent who are struggling behind closed doors, shut blinds, and under the covers of their bed sheets in hopes of no one catching them.
I’ve talked a lot about the issues I see at hand, but what kind of active Samaritan would I be if I hadn’t proposed a solution.
What if we started small? What if a school came together and worked together to benefit the whole student body? What if we took the 10 minutes out of our day to write positive letters to each other?
At NEST+m we took the initiative with a team of 15 students, and setting out to minimize stigma and silence around mental health.
We began by drafting presentations, and videos and put together Project Noted.
Students were given 10-20 minutes to write 1 page letters about what it’s like to struggle, to share their story, talk about the issues we have in society, capture their problems with their body image, encounters they’ve had with mental illness, or just write a note of encouragement, maybe even some advice.
While this may seem corny, it worked. And I’d like to help the students of your school get on the pathway to conscious vocals in regards to mental health. Often students forget to take care of themselves and get caught up in their studies, activities, and life outside outside the classroom. I’d like to remind them that they matter, that they’re not alone, whatever it may be that they struggle with, and that we’re here.
So, if you’d be interested in bringing Project Noted to your school, feel free to contact me and we can discuss how the project works, and how we can bring it to your school.
We got 600 students to become vocal about what bothers them, what concerns them, and what matters to them. Don’t believe me? Read our testimonials. Not only did we get 600 letters, but we got help for students who were actively demonstrating distressing themes and/or mentioned needing help. Project Noted worked at NEST+M , and it can work at your school too. l hope you enjoy our content and keep in touch.