“This is a light on this disparity, illuminates it in particular in this moment…There’s no guise of safety. If Yale cares most about the people who make up its community, releasing students from a nominal contribution to its budget…It makes such a difference in the lives of students to not Read more…
People told me that I would find the support that I needed at Yale as a first-generation, low-income student. Advertisements from the University made it seem like I had little to worry about—that despite my lack of knowledge on how to succeed as an undergraduate, the school would help guide Read more…
As a low-income student, I was constantly aware of what could happen if something drastic occurred to change my status from poor but doing okay to downright struggling. That “something drastic” has occurred, and no one knows when it will end. I am constantly paying for my parents’ groceries to Read more…
During my sophomore year, I remember asking my therapist for weekly instead of biweekly meetings, and because her schedule was so full with other patients she couldn’t meet with me every week. I think if Yale Mental Health had more therapists of color, specifically women of color, like the one Read more…
Lower therapy wait times are imperative because mental health affects every aspect of a person’s life. Bad mental health could negatively affect one’s mood and self-confidence, one’s friendships and relationships, one’s academic performance, one’s eating and exercising habits, and even one’s ability to get out of bed in the morning. Read more…
I’ve had a lot of experience with mental illness; I have depression and anxiety, and I have been in an intensive outpatient program. I think it’s very important to have timely access to mental health professionals because in my experience, I didn’t want to get help until I was already Read more…
In many ways, COVID affected me a lot less than many other people. I was able to stay home after spring break and was also able to take in two friends of mine who didn’t have anywhere else to go and were turned away by Yale from staying on campus. Read more…
I think the thing I see most visibly is how race and class shape one’s ability to decide whether take a gap year because of of COVID-19 for the 2020-2021 school year. A lot of people I know who would love to take a gap year for mental health reasons, Read more…
I think it’s pretty clear that a return to campus will magnify the race and class divides that existed before the pandemic began. These divides will be structural and academic but they will also be interpersonal. Unless Black students have the means to grapple with the emotional and mental health Read more…
“I support the fight for full aid and improved mental health support. For me, Yale’s financial and mental health systems go hand-in-hand. I should not have to worry about funding my education when students are promised equitable and sufficient need-based aid. The SIC only places further strain on me and Read more…