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Belonging in School: #5 Emerging Adults with Mental Illness
The Show
Proem
Welcome to episode #5 of the series: Emerging Adults with Mental Illness. So far, we’ve heard from two emerging adults and one parent, Emeka, Erika, and Annie. As we expand the circle around them, I wanted to hear from a high school teacher. I could have included a counselor or an administrator, but when I listened to my dear friend, teacher, and previous guest, Matt Neil, speak about the Ambassadors Program he sponsors, I knew this was righteous. Having already interviewed sixteen people for the series, I often feel hopeless. What a mess we’re in! Everything seems reactive to an inadequate, fractured, byzantine national mental health unsystem. Reactive by needful, helpful participants worn down beating their heads against walls. Reactive, not preventative. Matt offers a hopeful story. He’s not focusing on mental health per se but on belonging and inclusion in a typically lonely time — high school. Other than with family, emerging adults spend most time in school. Here we go. Enjoy and thanks for joining me.
