Elisa Baer Writ 340 Blog

According to an article posted in Times Magazine, “In spring 2017, nearly 40% of college students said they had felt so depressed in the prior year that it was difficult for them to function, and 61% of students said they had “felt overwhelming anxiety” in the same time period, according to an American College Health Association survey of more than 63,000 students at 92 schools (Reilly). Mental illness is something that affects each and every one of us daily, whether it stems from ourselves or from the people we surround ourselves with. For this reason, I have decided to propose a company that partners with college campuses across the United States to improve the way they handle mental illnesses as a united institution called Mind Over Matter. From personal experience at the University of Southern California, and hearing friends complain about the poor treatment, lack of resources, and insufficient communication between the institution and students, this idea arose. I rec...

I believe change is inspired at the group level but happens on the individual level. For this reason, change needs to happen to start with the health of the individuals on this earth. Mental illness is something that affects each and every one of us daily, whether it stems from ourselves or from the people we surround ourselves with. For far too long, there has been a stigma attached to mental illness, and this idea that people should keep mental diseases to themselves. I believe a step to make the world a better place is to start talking about mental illnesses, and in a sense normalizing them. People think they are alone when they suffer from anxiety, depression or any of the various mental illnesses, and do not realize that so many people surrounding them have these same problems. A few ways to implement this is to have seminars teaching others what constitutes mental illness and the various levels of the illnesses, having support groups where people can console and discuss, or teach...

Eagle Rock Brewery  I was very excited for the opportunity to attend a women’s beer forum for extra credit. I am not a huge beer drinker, so it is safe to say that I have never participated in a beer forum before. Whenever I think of beer, I believe either of the gross, watery (Natural Light) beer that every boy in college drinks, or dark IPA’s that my brothers and father drink. I do not really enjoy either of these. After attending the forum, I realized how many different kinds of beer were made and how different each specific beer tastes. We tried five different types of beer at this particular forum which include: New Neon Sign, Relax, Spock it, Yeah Yeah, The Future is Unclear. All of the beers tasted very different, and I didn’t love the darker IPA’s as expected. My favorite beer was Relax. This beer was produced by Offshoot Beer Co. and tasted very light, citrusy and tropical. Even though I probably would not order the last four beers again, I enjoyed the experience of try...

I have grown up with a Swedish mother and American father. Ever since I was born, my family has spent our summers in Sweden. We would leave right when school ended and stay until school started- about two months. It is here that we got to enjoy and spend time with my mom’s side of the family. When my two brothers and I were younger, we would explore various summer camps there and alternate with visiting family all over Sweden. This way I was able to learn the Swedish language and culture, not only from my mom but also kids my age. At one point in my life, kids at my summer camp did not even know I was from the United States. Summer was always my favorite time of the year, as I yearned for it all year long. The crisp summer air, brisque ocean, family time, and freshly caught seafood. As I started getting older, my brothers and I spent less and less time in Sweden over the summer because of summer programs and jobs. The last four years in college, I have only been able to spend about t...