A NEW LENS
At the beginning of this school year, I was asked to write a personal statement for the Michigan Daily. I had only two days to write it and I was really struggling with what to write about. I chose something that was really personal because I knew I could tell the story in an articulate way that would hopefully also mean something to my readers. I wrote about my struggle with anxiety in high school and in college. After the story was published, I was happy with the final product, but I also felt that there was a lot I left out, and information I could expand upon that would allow my reader to relate in a deeper way. I chose this personal statement as my gateway project because it is so deeply personal, and because there are more thoughts I wanted to explore and also confront how our campus culture stops us from talking about mental health. Anxiety and mental illness on campus is not a topic that is widely discussed. Every student on this campus is impacted by anxiety or knows someone who is. This topic is relevant to each and every individual on this campus and shying away from the conversation only makes the problem bigger. I chose this topic because of its impact on me as an individual and what I can teach others from my experiences. Anxiety has always impacted my life, but it was not until recently that I realized the magnitude of its effects. Dealing with anxiety is not easy, and accepting it is difficult. It took me a long time to accept that I was not perfect and needed help. Anxiety is something that affects many people, but they may not be aware enough or able to accept that it affects them. I want to raise awareness about the many ways anxiety affects students on our campus and how even the smallest conversations or experiences we have can positively affect our outlook about ourselves and the world around us.
My first experiment for this project was a personal narrative. I found that this was a great way to portray my story, but it did not encompass all of the aspects of helping others that I wanted to include. I found the process of writing this personal narrative very similar to my initial piece. I wasn’t satisfied with the way it turned out, I felt like I was babbling on and on about myself, which was not the result I was aiming for. I looked at other published personal narratives online but found that because each personal narrative is so personal and has a very specific message, I did not get the inspiration I needed to model my own work. It was a challenge to shape my work in a way I felt applied to a vast array of audiences. I wanted to create something that portrayed my story in a way that people would enjoy reading, and I believe that if it was only my story, people would think, “So what? I don’t care about your problems.” I wanted to create something that everyone could relate to, and writing a personal narrative was not enough.
In an effort to help others cope with anxiety, I focused my second project around creating graphics about the resources we have on campus, and discovering how many students actually use them. The reason I chose to create infographics was because I create them almost every day for my work at The Michigan Daily. This past year, I was the managing design editor and I created these infographics daily. This experiment did not take me out of my comfort zone. I did find several points of inspiration online while I was researching what I wanted my graphics to look like, but it did not inspire me that much. I just went through the motions of creating something that I do almost every day. It was not pushing my boundaries far enough and I knew I could create something with more depth that would be more impactful for my readers. I decided that an infographic was far too formal for a project that I wanted to be about connecting people on a personal level. Infographics do not create personal connections. I knew I needed something more.
For my final experiment, I created a photo essay of my life and the experiences in my day-to-day life, and the experiences of others with anxiety on campus. I was not familiar with specific published photo essays before I knew I wanted to create one. I did some digging and found several photo essays that sparked my interest. Investing the time to research this model was important because it gave me the tools I needed to create my narrative in a captivating way for my reader.
This was exactly what I needed to display my story in a way that connected my readers to my story, and give them something to relate to: hearing from other students on campus. I knew I wanted to use my design skills to portray my message in a way that made sense to me, that also showcased my creative side. I chose to expand on the photo essay for my final project because I felt it told my story best, and allowed me to connect with my readers in a very personal way. And rather than telling a story from the past when I discovered my anxiety, I chose to represent my everyday life now, after becoming aware of and taking medication for my anxiety. I felt that this gave my audience more to relate to; seeing pictures of their campus in a way that they might not have seen before. I also chose to interview more people. In doing this, I found that it is hard for individuals that I did not really know to speak about very personal issues. I then chose three friends that had very different experiences in dealing with anxiety/stress on this campus and they trusted me and I trust them. I wanted to showcase how anxiety is different for everyone and that everyone’s feelings are valid. I also added additional analysis that supplements my friend’s experiences. This allowed me to share the lessons of my peers through my voice.
I really love the way my final product turned out. I believe that my message is portrayed in a way that also showcases my abilities and who I am. I feel very confident about the pictures I chose, I believe that each one represents my life in a way that communicates each message so that others can also personally relate to. I really enjoyed taking the photos and displaying them for others to see. Before picking this topic, I noticed all the pictures I had taken over the past year and felt it was such a shame that the only platform I was sharing them on was Facebook. I am so happy with the way my site has turned out, and how my photo essay looks online.
If I had to go back and revisit one aspect of my site, it would definitely be my interviews. I would have liked to have a gotten a little more substance and advice from the people I interviewed. I purposely made them short statements so that they would not over power my own analysis. Looking back, I would have liked to share their voices and their experiences in more depth.
I greatly enjoyed working on and creating this project. It helped me grow as a writer and as a critical thinker. This project has shown me all the ways writing impacts every aspect of our lives, and how powerful it is in portraying a specific message. At the beginning of this project, I did not realize how the many forms writing can shape a message. I learned that the power of writing goes far beyond what can be accomplished in a five-paragraph essay. This project also completely changed my perspective of how I view anxiety on campus, and allowed me to see my campus community differently. It made me recognize my priorities; how they shape my morals and allow me to challenge myself to tell a unique story for my reader. I hope to continue to grow as writer beyond this project, and am so thankful that it has provided me with the opportunity to tell the story I wanted to tell in a way that is personal to me, and hopefully, resonates with my reader.
