Blog /My Summer with PEERS

My brief summer internship at PEERS was quite an experience to say the least. With everything from sitting in on episode tapings with Shannon to attending my first zumba class with Jenee for an interview, my time was spent learning about the media/marketing industry. But along the way, I found out more about the organization itself and how dedicated each employee was to the cause. I discovered that, whether it was through a suggestion of early morning dancing to get everyone pumped for the day or through kind words from every staff member on people’s birthdays, PEERS promoted mental health in their own company as well as in the outside world. Through the dozens of articles and blogs I read, and various interviews I listened to, I realized how big a deal mental health is becoming and how hard we should work together to fight the stigma that engulfs the mental health community.

But the one thing that I really took away from this entire summer was this: to keep an open mind. There is a wealth of not only informational facts out there, but an abundance of things people can teach you. I learned that people are truly kind from the man who biked around the world to raise mental health awareness. I found out that even the small act of promising to listen will inspire others to fight back from our Facebook pledge. I discovered that all people need is support and hope from the man who battled suicide and now runs a program to help others with a mental illness. I was inspired not to put up with any crap from anyone by a mental health blog writer. I was reminded that happy people make others around them happy too by a zumba instructor. And I learned from so many involved in the mental health community to never let the fear win, whether it's the fear that you’ll get fired because of your condition or fear that people won’t accept you or fear that others will judge you, never let fear stop you from anything.

Overall, my time at PEERS was a rewarding, inspiring, and overall good time. I was moved by the stories I heard from interviews and read from articles and know now more than ever that just one person can really make a difference.