General

October 14, 2020 — This summer, as the fall semester of my freshman year at the University of Arizona, loomed, I had to make the difficult decision whether to stay home or head to campus and live the traditional freshman experience I imagined. Based on a wide variety of factors, I chose to stay home and attend school remotely […]

October 8, 2020 — In the first semester of my freshman year, I was hospitalized due to mental health concerns. Living with a mental illness and managing my mental health was nothing new for me. I was diagnosed a few years before coming to college, but with the transition to a new school and new area, I was not […]

October 6, 2020 — Say hello to our wonderful group of fall 2020 interns! We are so excited to learn and grow alongside these passionate and driven mental health advocates.   Abigail Brown Where do/did you go to school and what do/did you study?  I went to school at Ohio University and graduated with a BS in Graphic Design […]

September 29, 2020 — When looking at the data from the Active Minds’ April 2020 survey for the first time, a particular statistic stood out to me: more than half of students did not know where to seek help for their mental health. I felt concerned about the wellbeing and mental health of students. We have all been isolating in our homes […]

September 16, 2020 — Take a look at college students, like really take a look at the students on your campus. College students, especially first-generation college students, are scared, nervous, and quite frankly lost when they arrive at college. They’re far away from home with no support system. The responsibility for providing support now falls on the shoulders of […]

September 11, 2020 — Content Warning: This piece contains mentions of suicide statistics. Active Minds is calling on young adults across the nation to advocate for change and use their voices to establish a campus culture of caring and support for BIPOC students. Here are our recommendations of ways you can begin to make change, starting today. We launched […]

August 27, 2020 — After months of stay-at-home orders, social disconnection, and remote learning challenges, many of you put your hope in a safe, meaningful, in-person college experience. You did what you needed to do so that you could live out what you were told would be the best years of your life. You applied for your loans. Paid […]

August 18, 2020 — For years, mental health has been a growing issue among students. Even before the pandemic, research showed a rise in mental health issues among students over the past decade. And among BIPOC students this increase was even more pronounced. Experts and research predict that mental health challenges will continue to rise this fall, and will […]

August 12, 2020 — I barely remember attending my masters graduation. I’d been in a heartbroken haze for months, somehow finishing my thesis between breakdowns. When I look back on photos from that day, I’m sporting a giant, toothy grin that would fool anyone as being authentic – but I remember feeling empty. Today, when I see smiles on […]

August 4, 2020 — PostSecret is a community art project I started on a whim over a decade ago. I printed up a few thousand postcards, handed them out on the streets of Washington, DC, invited people to write down a secret they had never told anyone before, decorate the card, and then mail it to my home in […]