Why I Support TWLOHA

As some of you know, I was recently accepted in to To Write Love on Her Arms' Spring Break Internship program. Because of that, I wanted to share the story of how I got involved with TWLOHA with all of you. Enjoy. :)

I first heard about TWLOHA at a Switchfoot concert when I was in 8^th grade. Jon Forman was wearing a title shirt, and like many others, I assumed TWLOHA was a band. After the concert, I went home and looked up TWLOHA on Myspace. I read Renee’s story and was moved to tears. A family member of mine had recently been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and I was struggling to adjust to the changes this meant for my family. Although my family is very accepting and loving, not everyone reacted to the diagnosis’s well. Although I was not the one with the diagnosis, I was able to see firsthand the stigmas and difficulties that were put upon people I loved. Hearing that there was a national movement dedicated to bringing awareness and support to issues that affected me so personally was life changing. As soon as I heard about the organization, I knew I needed to get involved. I started talking about the organization with whomever I met. The idea of community, second chances, and being okay with not being okay was something that spoke so deeply to me, I wanted everyone else to know about it as well. The first opportunity I had to work with TWLOHA was the Spring Break Internship program in 2008. I was a junior in high school and my parents had recently gotten divorced. After the divorce, I became depressed and anxious and withdrew into myself, shutting out those that I loved. The blogs on TWLOHA were one of the only things that kept me going. I wanted to be as close to the organization as I could be. Even though I was young, I applied to the Spring Break program and to my amazement was accepted to join the program and spend a week in Florida with the TWLOHA team. I honestly believe that this experience saved my life. For the first time in my life I was able to completely honest with my fellow interns and experience community. I opened up to them about what I was going through and experienced healing like I never thought was possible. At a time when I thought all was lost, I was supported through TWLOHA in a way that made me want to keep living. TWLOHA saved my life, and I want to do everything in my power to continue TWLOHA’s mission and help save the lives of others like me.