Mental health is something that I am, and have always been incredibly passionate about. It’s not a passion that I necessarily remain vocal about all the time, partially because I have other, stronger passions, but I would be lying if I said it’s not also partially due to the stigma surrounding mental health.

Mental health and wellbeing is a concept I have been aware of in some capacity for awhile; probably since around middle school when one’s place in the social world begins to “matter”. I have struggled in the past, and I know many people who have also struggled in the past. I know people who are struggling now, and are fighting some of the hardest internal battles humanly possible. I also know that many of these people tend to stray from talking about these battles, for fear of being judged, looked at differently, feeling ashamed, you name it, and myself included. Unfortunately, more often than not, people suffer in silence.

My freshman year at Michigan, I had a friend tell me about an organization called Wolverine Support Network, a one hour weekly peer support group. Initially, I was not very interested. The idea of joining a peer support group felt like a relatively charged idea; I didn’t feel like I really needed support outside of the groups I was already a part of. I was planning on trying it out just to please my friend, but I really didn’t have much interest in talking about the things that were going on in my life—especially the transition to college—with a group of strangers. After attending my first group, I continued coming back every single week; I don’t think I missed a single session my first semester.

I have since become much more involved in Wolverine Support Network by becoming a group leader this semester. This past weekend, we had our leader retreat at my old summer camp in Ortonville, Michigan. To say that I came out of this weekend feeling inspired would be a gross understatement. I went into the weekend, knowing at the end of the day that everyone there had been connected in some way to a passion towards ending the stigma surrounding mental health. However I still was unable to rid myself of preconceived notions I had about individuals prior to the retreat. I fell victim to the idea that what is portrayed on Instagram is real life. I fell victim to the idea that what these people put on social media was all encompassing, and they could not possibly have experienced any sort of hardships because of the happiness exuded through their social media presence. I have never in my life been so unbelievably happy to be proven wrong.

As I got to know the people who surrounded me this weekend, I realized that they were all there to serve the same purpose: defeat the stigma that I was unknowingly contributing to. I have come out of this weekend with so much love for every single individual who spent their weekend in Ortonville with me, even the people I didn’t get a chance to meet.

My point in saying all of this is not to tell you all how enlightened I’ve become, or to preach this wonderful organization (though if you are able, I could not possibly recommend joining a group enough). My point is that every once in awhile, you should try to look past your preconceived notions about people. Everyone has them, it’s impossible not to in an age so dominated by social media. But try to find common ground with the people you find to be the most different from yourself. Try to get to a place in life where you can realize that no matter the person, no matter their social media presence, everyone struggles at some point or another. It’s much better to feed the solution than the stigma.