By Ryan Holland
“If you feel too much, there is still a place for you here.”
Those are the words that Jamie Tworkowski left with students at Post University. Bringing Jamie to Post on September 29 was a dream come true for me. The conversation that he had was everything it could be and more; it was true, clear, and honest, everything that a message of hope should be. Jamie’s message paints a vision of hope in its true form, defiant and always present. He lets students know that it’s OK to not feel OK, and if a hand is raised there will be someone there ready to help pick up the pieces.
The stigma around mental health has always been present. I’ve personally lived with it my entire life, and for the longest time I suffered in silence because I was afraid of being different and thought if I needed help, I wasn’t as strong as those around me; it wasn’t until a few years ago that I was able to truly break free from the stigma. It’s important to me to break the stigma because it allows others to run where I had to walk. It paves the way for both brighter futures and better tomorrows. I dream that one day people will be able to step into treatment without any backlash or question. A day where someone isn’t looked at differently for their own personal struggles. One where you can raise a hand and say I’m not doing OK, and people don’t turn an eye. A message that I want to leave with our Post community is the following passage:
“You’ll need coffee shops and sunsets and road trips. Airplanes and passports and new songs and old songs, but people more than anything else. You will need other people and you will need to be that other person to someone else, a living, breathing, screaming invitation to believe better things.”- If You feel Too Much” Jamie Tworkowski
Ryan Holland is the President of RHA. He is currently serving as the Vice President of SGA and is a Business Administration major with a minor in art. Besides being heavily involved in student life on campus, Ryan is a mental health advocate and part of the Post University Esports team. Ryan will graduate with his BS-BUS in May 2022.