In the midst of sacrificing everything just to stay afloat, many FGLI students cannot find the time to reflect on what they feel is worth living for. The day, week, and sometimes month long wait times these students experience before getting therapy for these feelings is yet another snippet of proof that showcases that Yale was designed to keep low-income students struggling much more than their wealthier counterparts.

“I had just come back from study abroad, there was a death in my family, and it was just a really tough time. During the time that I had to wait to get paired with someone, my mental health deteriorated a lot.”

If students are expected to entrust this institution with our health and wellbeing, then Yale MUST do better; especially given that the landscape of healthcare in New Haven is dominated by the Yale Corporation, students need better, more restorative, and representative mental health services made accessible to them by the University.

“There needs to be people who can talk to you no matter the situation.”

As such, Yale needs to consider the impacts of its financial aid policy on working-class students, such as myself, and understand that its billions need to be mobilized to make sure that the people that the university must serve (its students, workers, and community) have the support they need during this time.

“Having short and sparse therapy appointments made therapy feel ineffective for me.”

“By eliminating the SIC, I can focus on helping out my family financially and not have to worry about any additional fees that I need to pay for my education.”

For someone like me, limited by economic and class constraints, the resources Yale advertises are priceless. However, in reality, these resources (especially Yale Mental Health), which are pushed as resources for all, become resources for a very select few.

“I felt ridiculous for asking for a mental health care provider with the knowledge and competency to give me the care that I needed. Yale health is not equipped to support working class students of color and queer students until they can provide fast, easy access to care with counselors who share their lived experiences.”

“I was met with the same long wait times, inconsistency, and poor communication while struggling with the medicine I was on.”

If Yale had more therapists with more availability for students, I would be able to get the help that I need and other students would as well.

“Going forward, I really need the administration to be clear about student work and how that works when people are taking semesters off, and to support students in their jobs no matter where they are. Students should have access to full-need financial aid, so I am calling on Yale to eliminate the SIC.”

“If you’re not reaching out for help until you’re at a desperate point when you’re thinking about harming yourself or worse, and then you don’t hear back for two weeks, what message does that send?”

Beyond classes, slower internet also meant that my work as a CS major was stifled because online resources had a harder time loading. If the SIC were eliminated (including the non-billed portion), a stipend would’ve perhaps allowed us to afford because internet which would’ve helped alleviate these challenges.

“It would take Yale fully eliminating the SIC to really provide the access to education that I was promised in the first place.”

“I am constantly paying for my parents’ groceries to make sure we have enough food in the house, and am currently working three jobs in order to pay for essentials at home.”

“To multimillionaire families, that money is nothing. To my family, that money is groceries.”

“I have no job, and may not be able to find a job into the semester depending on Yale’s social distancing policies.”

“I saw all of my savings disappear overnight.”

“I worry for my friends and classmates who are going through similarly difficult times, often without financial security.”

“My peers shouldn’t have to worry about attaining the financial means to get the education they already earned and deserve.”

“I’m wracked with anxiety when everyone starts talking about jobs and fellowships because I have to ask myself, ‘Is the study of English, which I truly believe has changed my life and my understanding of the world, worthy of study when I’m literally paying the interest on a private loan every month?”

This semester, I wanted to start going to therapy. I have never had access to mental health resources until I came to Yale. When I was sent home, those resources all went away again.

“I had hopes then that Yale would help level the playing field for people like me. But that was a little more than three years ago. I’m now a rising senior, and I still feel lost at Yale. I still haven’t received any of the support that I was promised.”

After we went remote, I was paid less than I would have been for my spring semester work, and lost the paid opportunities for commencement and this summer. Now, my savings account has… no savings. Any money I do have saved will be paid to Yale’s SIC or summer income contribution, instead of a post-grad opportunity or any contingency plan in deferring next semester.

“Rather than spending most of my weeks planning around classes, talks, club meetings, or social gatherings, I explicitly schedule my days around my 19 hours of work every week in order to meet Yale’s SIC.”

“Getting rid of the student income contribution would give students wider latitude with how they spend their DSA money, and encourage students to perform even more meaningful work on campus as well.”

“It has been incredibly difficult to navigate job searches during this time, knowing that there are jobs available but at the risk of my family and myself.”

“I eventually stopped seeking help because of internalized feelings that I was not deserving of effective care, feelings that were exacerbated by being overlooked in the intake process and by a therapist who wasn’t right for me.”

“Just like one wouldn’t make an appointment for an X-ray prior to breaking a bone, reaching out to MHC is not something one does in advance when one think’s they might need it in six months. It’s something one does when they are in need of immediate support from a professional.”

“I did not expect to wait the whole semester to be assigned and see a therapist.”

“The fact that I had to explain my literal identity told me that YHMC was not a space for me.”

“The SIC only places further strain on me and my family, and a lack of timely mental health support further contributes to that stress.”

“By maintaining the SIC, Yale continues to affirm that it only cares about the experience of those with the means to live without worry.”

Several non-profit student organizations such as Matriculate have begun offering small stipends to low-income student volunteers recognizing the burden on low-income students — it’s time Yale recognizes this as well!

“In my first two years at Yale, I dealt with a lot of anxiety about not being as smart or as talented as everyone else. This feeling of inadequacy negatively impacted all areas of my life.”

“Especially seeing as how the overwhelming majority of campus administrators are white, it’s important to have counselors of color so that students have options in seeking support.”

“When I went to Yale Mental Health and Counseling, it took them over a year to assign me to a therapist. “

“Every person I spoke with regarding my mental health was white, whether at the front desk, during my intake, or my therapist.”

“I know that, even with a summer job, it won’t be enough to offset my step-dad being laid off. COVID-19 has led to many families being laid off which affects many students at Yale, specifically those who receive partial financial aid and are expected to pay the same amount for tuition that they’ve paid every year. The SIC makes Yale even more inaccessible, especially during an international pandemic, forcing low income students to sacrifice precious time to work to remain on campus.”

“Everyone deserves to be comfortable at Yale. Everyone deserves to get the most out of Yale like I have been able to.”

“Although I worked a campus job that may soon be nonexistent due to the precarious nature of the fall semester, it alone is not enough to cover the SIC and my mother has been working seven-day weeks and twelve-hour shifts for the past two years to make sure that I won’t have to deal with student loan debt in the future.”

“None of these engagements would be feasible if I had to work a student job.”

“Now more than ever, with the many additional challenges and constraints presented by COVID-19, it is imperative to level the playing field for all students, regardless of economic status.”

As I reflect on the end of my time at Yale, especially my last few months in quarantine, it was my connections with a wide variety of student groups and communities that carried me through. In New Haven, I barely had enough time for those activities and my classes. If I had needed to pay the SIC, it would have been impossible for me to participate in all those communities.

“I just found out that I’m losing my job.”

When you’re financially unstable on campus, you’re constantly wanting to seek help but it’s hard to balance with working and academics. Given Yale’s reputation with mental health services, it doesn’t even seem worth it to try to access them.

“Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a job due to the pandemic and I have been reaching into my savings originally budgeted for the SIC to cover expenses. This university has already demonstrated they are committed to assisting their students in times of crisis and financial uncertainty through expanding this summer’s DSA. Eliminating the SIC is the next logical step.”

“I was taken aback by the absurdity and ignorance of this question coming from a healthcare provider who has undoubtedly worked with many students of color in the past.”

“These long wait times place an enormous burden on the students who often reach out at their lowest point.”

To go through the grueling, time-consuming process of dealing with MH&C just to be matched with a therapist who can’t even relate to or understand my experiences was just not worth it. As a queer woman of color, it makes me uncomfortable to talk to someone who can’t relate to my background at all.

“Given the fact that Yale is a predominately white institution, I think a lot of students of color would feel more comfortable talking to therapists of color.”

“Mental health at Yale is an issue that deserves more attention, and COVID has only exacerbated these issues…”

“Hearing how other people had to wait whole semesters before mental health services contacted them post-intake appointment made me brush off any suggestion to go and seek out their services for myself. I picked up unhealthy coping mechanisms, and ultimately began to resent the entirety of my being on campus.”

“The most obvious way COVID has affected me is that my sister and I had it– my sister for over 100 days, and myself for around six weeks– the whole part of the semester that was online.”

“I am already stressed about what my unpaid thesis work will take from my jobs and my classes. Without having to worry about work and money, I could put so much more of myself into my senior project. It would mean a lot to me to finish off my Yale career in the way I would choose if I truly had all the options.”

The most telling part of that interaction was the receptionist’s surprise that I’d been assigned a therapist so quickly. Not hearing back from anyone after enduring the intake would have discouraged me, as I imagine it does other students, from continuing to pursue counseling.

“Asking for the SIC is just callous and cruel at this point. A lot of jobs students would be working are just not possible anymore, there’s just a lot of added stressors.”

“I did not have to worry about paying off debt, the Student Income Contribution, or supporting my family. This is what enables me to experience only the anxiety brought by lost opportunities for career growth and social life.”

“Some people with money on campus will even go to private therapists because they don’t want to or can’t wait that long to see a therapist at Yale Mental Health; however, low-income students who cannot afford that are forced to wait, and it’s an unfair standard.”

“Releasing students from the SIC would allow them to relocate that money to other places in their lives: to counseling, to wellness practices, to food — things that are essential sources of care.”

When I needed help, everyone I interacted with was perfectly competent. However, I know that my experience is not the norm. I have friends who have not come close to having their needs met within the framework promised by the university.

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories of people going in for evaluations, and then they have to wait for weeks or even months to hear back about whether they had been assigned a therapist. That happened to me: I went in for an evaluation and never got any word back.

“I felt put on the spot and obligated to say yes, even though her not being black was a big issue for me. I didn’t want to say no because I knew that everyone’s horror stories could prevent me from getting a therapist soon”

“Personally, after going to the intake appointment and having one follow-up appointment, the psychologist cancelled for multiple different reasons (sickness, lack of staff) seven different times, sometimes going five weeks without reaching out.”

“A larger Black staff at YMHC would be a step in transforming the campus from one that values the image of Black students to one that truly values their ideas, experiences, and lives.”

Once it was established that I was not severely depressed, it felt like my case was immediately dropped to the bottom of an endless pile. I did not receive a call back about making a second appointment until six months later.

“If it weren’t for the SIC, I would have spent more time during my Yale Career dedicated to my studies and passions, and less time anxiously poring over my finances and career competitiveness.”

“I would have felt better understood and like I could verbalize things I had struggled with my entire life, which I instead had to learn by myself. Yale should not only make an effort to diversify its therapists, but also make it publicly known that low income students of color and LGBTQ+ students have every right to ask for them.”

“This was my first experience losing a peer, and I soon realized that the pace of Yale doesn’t give space for students to grieve.”

“Seeing how clear the divide is, I believe it is unfair for Yale to require the SIC, which disproportionately affects lower income students.”

“Even after I did get paired, I felt like my depression wasn’t bad enough to need therapy and other students needed it more, so I didn’t even go to the counselor I got assigned to until months later.”

“After facing a four-month waiting period and inconsistent communication with YMHC, the institutional care that was supposed to support me ended up compounded the anxiety I originally had.”

My financial reality at Yale has forced me to confront some hard truths: I’m not as academically successful as I could be. I’m not as well-rested as I could be. I’m not as good of a theatre maker as I could be. All because I have to spend a significant amount of time and energy each week working to keep myself financially afloat, and to support my family back home.

When I tried to get matched with a therapist at Mental Health and Counseling my first year It took months to get an appointment, and when I finally did, I felt like every session was encouraging me out the door faster.

“Waiting several months or never hearing back after a request for help is simply not acceptable.”

“By eliminating the SIC, lowering therapy wait times, and by meeting patient preferences for therapists, Yale will be creating the conditions for all students, not just the wealthy, to learn and thrive in the coming year.”

“It is outrageous to think that any student on Yale’s campus would be prevented from fully taking ownership of their college experience with the magnitude of resources at this institution’s disposal.”

It felt awful, because I knew I was spiraling here—tonight—but that help might only come over a month down the road. My crisis only became evident when I was in the middle of it, not weeks before it happened.

“During the first semester of my first year I found myself bogged down in work, in sleeplessness, and loneliness. It wasn’t until I returned home for break that I realized how unhealthy the first semester was for me—how depressed I was.”

“[The SIC] is a deterrent for low-income students to progress through Yale at the same rate as their wealthy counterparts.”

“Unless Black students have the means to grapple with the emotional and mental health tolls of the pandemic and the state sanctioned murders of people in our communities, campus will not be a safe place for us.”

“It’s crucial that Yale expand access to mental health resources by reducing wait times and meeting student preferences so others can get support quickly like I did.”

“I needed access to a psychiatrist immediately but couldn’t get it.”

With my free time I’ve been able to pick up memberships in multiple clubs, including Yale Dems, First Years in Service, and Club Running. I can’t say the same for some of my friends who have had to balance the rigor of a Yale course load with the extracurricular and social challenges that come with acclimating to a place with as many opportunities as Yale.

“Stop making it more difficult for financially insecure students to feel that they belong on this campus.”

“I constantly ask myself If the student effort was really about making all students contribute to their education costs, why is that Yale’s SIC policy allows one’s socio-economic status to make the SIC an option for some while others have no alternative but to work? Is this really Yale’s vision of inclusivity?”

“Being a Black womxn at Yale already comes with the burdens of existing as a minority at a predominantly white institution. On top of that, I must also grapple with the racial trauma that is constantly being exposed and exacerbated because of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“During my quarantine experience, my social anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia have been heightened due to lack of interaction and activity. This will create an even bigger demand for mental health counseling, that can either be met, or ignored.”

“The money I earn goes back to a nearly $30 billion institution, instead of towards my future or for personal necessities.”

“Because of the continuing existence of the SIC, I am constantly stressed about applying to medical school, for I know that my wealthier peers have taken full advantage of their time here at Yale in volunteering, taking unpaid lab positions, and making studying for the MCAT their full time job.”

“First year pushed me to my mental and physical limits even as someone who didn’t have to work a job. The college transition is tough enough just taking classes, but with extra pressure created by the coronavirus and ongoing police violence, I know it must be even worse.”

“While my peers worried about arriving late to an extracurricular activity or campus event, I worried about maximizing the amount of time I was working, often sacrificing my physical and mental health in the process.”

It took me many months to get my first appointment, which almost discouraged me completely. Then, I saw two therapists for a couple of times each only before we had to go home.

“After a few weeks of waiting, I was not able to make any of the times that the ‘therapist’ proposed for the meeting, and when I followed up proposing an alternate time, I never received a response. The lack of response made me feel that my situation was not important enough to warrant help; thus, I have continued to struggle silently.”

“While I know I gained useful skills from my job, I really do wish I was able to have spent my time doing other things like exploring more extracurriculars, building relationships with my peers, or even spent more time taking care of my health with sleep and exercise.”

“Suddenly, the independence and growth I experienced in college was gone, and I was back in my racist, conservative hometown—something that definitely damaged my mental health and made it really hard to focus on school.”

“For me, the rhetoric that bean bag chairs, stress balls, and donut-filled study breaks can somehow be a panacea for mental health problems has been harmful.”

“Yet, I cannot help but wonder what would have happened had I chosen to go home. How it would have ripped apart the facade of equality and forced. As faces vanished from zoom calls and canvas discussion boards, I recognized that some of my friends simply did not have the means or the stability to carry on with education in the same way. “

“When I really needed it, I thought, ‘Why spend so much time trying to get help when it’ll take so long for it to happen?'”

I am fortunate enough to have most of my tuition covered by Yale and an outside scholarship to pay for my Student Share which means that I have received more gift aid than the billed expenses. However, none of this aid has ever been made available to me to put towards textbooks, travel, or other personal matters, even though Yale claims that the Student Share can be reduced by outside scholarships. Instead, in the summer of 2019, I worked in a lab.

“The summer contribution has been stressing me out in recent days — it requires me to work in a paid position, in addition to the current remote work I’m doing, to earn the money in full, which would mean working in retail or food service for part of my summer. Meanwhile, I live with my grandma and I’ve barely left my house in an effort to keep her as safe as possible, and yet I’m expected to contribute that money to my college education.”

“To Yale, the SIC is an expense they can distribute to everyone in a couple weeks — but to me, that money is educational expenses, and that money is time that I could be studying. The resulting worry and lack of time has definitely prevented me from reaching my full potential as a scholar.”

“Yale is well equipped and full of potential to lead the change in student contribution – I hope it capitalizes on that to alleviate the stress that it can for students like myself.”

I have seen how my close friends have been unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and underserved by Yale’s Mental Health and Counseling. In some cases, this inadequate care has caused people around me to leave Yale in order to properly heal.

“How can Yale profess to care about our mental health when it continues to allow the SIC to burden its student body, particularly its BIPOC and working class students?”

In my experience, not having to contribute to the SIC freed me to pursue the extracurricular activities I was passionate about, like rock climbing and Splash, and gave me breathing room in my schedule to get my schoolwork done and excel in my classes.

“When Yale announced that classes would be online, I came dangerously close to being unable to complete the entirety of my senior project because I couldn’t afford a laptop. Because of this – the risk of housing insecurity and academic concerns forced onto students along class lines – I call upon Yale to eliminate the SIC.”

“When I did receive treatment, it was not with someone who could fully understand or relate to my complicated experiences with race and belonging as a half-Asian woman. The COVID-19 crisis is leaving behind Yale’s most vulnerable students in their time of need.”

“Living at home means I sleep on my family’s couch, do my work on an old, borrowed laptop, and navigate two family members constantly coming home from work, one being a nurse. My experience of Yale classes online in the spring makes me anxious about a digital semester.”

“Because I’m in a stable financial situation, I didn’t have the struggles that some of my friends did. It’s essential that Yale provides accessible mental health care to everyone so that everyone can get the support and care that they need.”