Please don’t leave us in the dark!
By Liam Simonelli
This November marks ten years that I have been battling depression. Through it, I’ve had my highs and lows. Lows that have left me in a desperate mental cage and a need for any help I could find. Of course my life has many highs too, more highs than lows, ones that make me love the life I have and inspire me to just grab as many opportunities as I can. But this year has been especially difficult for my mental health. The fears of uncertainty in a lingering pandemic and the desire for a return to ‘normal’ are more present than ever in my mind.
Many in this country have become well acquainted with depression in this long, stressful pandemic, but as the pandemic era winds down, it takes its fears and demons along with it. Not for all of us though. For some, the demons remain seated, menacingly anticipating an uncertain future.
According to an article in Lancet, In the months prior to the pandemic, depression rates among adults in the United States sat at roughly 8 percent. That soared to 27 percent in the months following the initial COVID lockdown in March of 2020. Over the course of 2020 and the start of vaccine administration earlier this year, the numbers of depressed people lessened. But most of the 8 percent will continue to struggle.
Our society’s mental health awareness the past twenty months has been encouraging and much needed. Resources were made available for many and our relatability to one another has never been stronger. We must keep the conversations and support going past the pandemic’s end. We need to keep hearing each other and understand that depression is not a passing burden for all.
Everyone’s mental suffering is relative of course. But please do not let the pandemic’s gradual end take with it all the things we’ve been doing for the good of our minds. All of our experiences, pre existing and new, should be heard. The struggle continues and for many of us, it is worse than it’s ever been. Keep the resources open, keep the open talks ongoing and keep understanding. Please don’t leave us in the dark.
MCCC tops the list
By Ejiroghene Omoru
From my personal experience I can give several reasons why Mercer should be among the top most boring and lonely higher education institutions. Some may argue that the pandemic is to blame, but I am of a different opinion.
The place has felt lonely from the first time I set foot at Mercer. I have never enjoyed the privilege of a friend nor a study partner, and I’m four semesters down the line. Students here always mind their own businesses.
At this point, I bet you have already labeled me an introvert. That’s where you are wrong! Although I cannot be described as an extrovert, I would place myself in the category between the two terms. I am an introvert until I get close to someone, someone close enough to unleash the extroverted version of me.
As a student, having friends comes with multiple advantages. You not only have people to hang out with when not in class and during the weekends, but also gain academically. Maybe those of us who have been lucky to secure a few friends know what I have been missing. Having a study partner can go a long way in improving one’s grades. I am not insinuating that I do not perform well, but I believe I would be better off with someone by my side.
Most students who study at MCCC agreed with me to some extent that Mercer is a lonely place. From a survey of 37 students, 25 strongly agreed with the premise that Mercer is a lonely place. Only 3 students disagreed.
In an interview on their perception about Mercer County, Juliet Banos, who majors in biology, lamented that “Mercer makes me unhappy, unmotivated and it’s affecting my entire grade. I have no one to talk to or a reading partner. You can go a week without anyone saying ‘hi’ to you.”
Annet, a close friend of mine who attends Rutgers, had this to say: “Of all the campuses I have visited, I would say Mercer is among the top most boring. Students are just aloof.” She is an athlete, a position that has allowed her to visit and interact with students from multiple campuses. Thus, her input is valuable.
Student athletes like Annet have the advantage of an automatic community from their team. The rest of us have to make friends without any support.
You may argue that the situation is due to the pandemic. However, the findings from my survey had a different opinion. Nineteen out of the 37 participants were at the college before the pandemic. Out of these, 15 maintained that Mercer has been boring since before COVID struck.
COVID only came to add salt to the injury. The social distancing and fear of contracting the virus have only made the situation worse than before. The pandemic has aggravated the situation, it cannot be blamed for Mercer’s loneliness.
Yet, I believe the situation can change. Let us try to be friendly and accommodative with one another. The vaccines are here, and the risks are minimal. Say hi to people at random. Let’s transform our campus into a community!
Mercer is a lonely place
By McKenna Miller
Mercer is a lonely place.
I am a high school senior taking part in the Career Prep Program at MCCC, where high-schoolers can experience college life and a variety of other classes that they would not be able to take at their home school. One thing I have noticed during my brief time being here, is that there is a loneliness on campus, completely different from my high school.
At my high school, students are usually always talking to one another. There is constant background noise, people laughing, people yelling at one another, fights, and people filling the space with sounds, even with their masks on.
But on the MCCC campus walking to class there is barely any talking. Everyone has their headphones in, listening to music, or talking to someone on the phone, even though there are people right in front of them.
Mercer is lonely. Even though it is a community college, there is no community here. Students can always join clubs to see other people who have the same interests as them. But what about the students who are too busy for clubs? What about the students who work 9 to 5 jobs?
I have only been on campus for about 2 months and whenever I am here there is a feeling of isolation.
I am lonely here. I feel as if I do not have anyone to talk to or share ideas with. At first, I thought it was just because of my younger age, I am only 17, but as time went on, I realized it just seems like the atmosphere.
I thought I was the only one that felt that way but I conducted a survey of 30 people and confirmed that at least 17 of those people have also felt lonely on occasion or in general at Mercer.
There needs to be a safe space for students to feel comfortable with sharing their mental state. There needs to be a place for students to release their stress, their anxieties, their worries about the week to one another.
I have first hand experience of the negative impact of loneliness as I suffer from a mental disorder myself. It is destroying, feeling as if there was no one that you could bare your feelings to which creates a separation between your thoughts and reality.
I know what it’s like to feel as if you can’t go on another day. I know what it’s like to feel hopeless and lonely. I know what it’s like to wonder what it would be like if you weren’t here.
I don’t want people to feel as if they have no one, I don’t want other people to feel the way I do every day.
Loneliness leads to people believing they have no support with their own mental setbacks which can affect their concentration, their anxiety, and their emotional wellbeing.
To erase the loneliness hovering over the campus, it needs to start with the students. Giving small waves or greetings to one another could lighten the mood.
Saying “hi” to one another, asking someone about their day, getting a chance to know classmates, being approachable, and just being kind to someone could change their mental state.
By giving someone one kind word, you are allowing that person to spread that kindness to other people.
Recently, I had an encounter when I was handing out my surveys. This one girl took the time to fill it out for me, and I said “Have a good day” and she responded with “You too! I love your coat!”
It made the rest of my day. I walked to my car with a huge smile underneath my mask, a smile so big I’m sure you could see it in my eyes.
One kind word, one tiny little word, could change someone’s mind, could help them realize there is hope and people that care in this world.
You never know what inner turmoil people suffer on the inside, you never know, your kind comment could change someone’s life for the better.
