The Signal Vol. 87 No. 24

CARE GUIDE

Six counseling centers near you to help jumpstart your mental health journey.

NEWS

PAGE 02

MAR. 31 - APR. 1, 2020

THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE

SENIOR ANXIETY

How the class of 2020 feels about entering the job market during a pandemic.

ARTS & LIVING

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NO MORE SPORTS

EDITORIAL

The world is missing sports and is unsure when they could return.

EDITOR’S LETTER PAGE 07

SPORTS

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NEWLETTER AD

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VOL. 87 | NO. 24

ILLUSTRATION BY MONTENEZ LOWERY | THE SIGNAL

@gsusignal

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TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020

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Your guide to finding mental healthcare in Atlanta

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or some, the hardest step in taking care of their mental health is finding help. Although the Georgia State Counseling and Testing Center offers 14 free sessions to all, there are also many locations in the metro Atlanta area that can support your needs for little or no cost. Here’s a quick guide to help you find the right place.

IMANI DENNIS Staff Reporter

MERCY CARE HOURS: Monday - Friday from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. (appointment only) TELEPHONE: 678-843-8500 ADDRESS: 424 Decatur St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30312 LGBTQ FRIENDLY: Yes MARTA STATION: King Memorial Station ACCEPTS: Uninsured only INCOME: At or below 150% federal poverty level SERVICES:Individual counseling, medication management and substance abuse treatment and support (in groups or individual)

AID ATLANTA - AHF HOURS: Monday - Thursday from 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Friday from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

TELEPHONE: 404-870-7700 ADDRESS: 1605 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 LGBTQ FRIENDLY: Yes MARTA STATION: Arts Center Station ACCEPTS: Uninsured, underinsured, insured, Medicare, Medicaid INCOME: All income levels accepted SERVICES: Individual counseling EMORY PSYCHOLOGICAL CENTER HOURS: Monday - Thursday from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

PAGE DESIGN BY AMBER KIRLOW | THE SIGNAL

WHITEFOORD HOURS: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. (appointment only) ADDRESS: 30 Warren St. SE, Atlanta, GA 30317 TELEPHONE: 404-373-6614 ACCEPTS: Uninsured, underinsured, insured, Medicare, Medicaid INCOME: All income levels accepted FEES: Sliding scale of fees based on income MARTA STATION: Edgewood Candler Park Station LGBTQ FRIENDLY: Yes SERVICES: Individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, development of self-care plans, medication/treatment management, psychosocial assessments, coordination of services with hospitals, courts and other community agencies, case management and referrals for various community resources and referrals for psychological and psychiatric evaluations

HEALING COMMUNITY CENTER HOURS: Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Saturday from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. (appointment only) ADDRESS: 2600 MLK Jr Dr. SW Ste 100, Atlanta GA 30311 TELEPHONE: 404-564-7749 LGBTQ FRIENDLY: Yes MARTA STATION: H.E. Holmes ACCEPTS: Uninsured, underinsured, insured, Medicare, Medicaid INCOME: All income levels accepted FEES: Sliding scale of fees based on income SERVICES: Individual counseling, family counseling/therapy, couples counseling, schoolbased counseling and groups, group therapy (topics and availability vary) and domestic violence counseling

Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (appointment only) TELEPHONE: 404-727-7451 ADDRESS: 36 Eagle Row, Suite 504, PAIS Building, Atlanta, GA 30322 LGBTQ FRIENDLY: Yes MARTA STATION: Lindbergh Station ACCEPTS: No insurance accepted INCOME: All income levels accepted FEES: Sliding scale of fees based on income (typically $18 to $60 per session) SERVICES: Individual counseling, couples counseling, group therapy and psychological assessments

EMPOWERMENT RESOURCE CENTER HOURS: Monday - Wednesday from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Tuesday - Thursday from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Friday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (appointment only on Saturday) ADDRESS: 230 Peachtree St. NW Suite 18000, Atlanta GA 30303 TELEPHONE: 404-526-1145 LGBTQ FRIENDLY: Yes MARTA STATION: Peachtree Center Station ACCEPTS: Call for insurance guidelines INCOME: All income levels accepted FEES: Sliding scale of fees based on income SERVICES: Individual therapy, substance abuse treatment and support and psychiatric evaluations

TUESDAY, 31,15, 2020 TUESDAY, MARCH JANUARY 2019

www.georgiastatesignal.com/opinions

Students with disabilities on depression

How the IDEAL program helps its students disabilities

executive president & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ada Wood

BREYAN PETTAWAY

signaleditor@gmail.com managing editor Will Solomons Marketing Manager Julian Pineda

Staff Columnist

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he Inclusive Digital Expression and Literacy, or IDEAL, Program is a program at Georgia State for people with disabilities, such as autism, cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities. Just like any other students on campus, we experience depression and have a department that supports us.

But you don’t have to take my word for it.

“Sometimes, I felt sad, but most of the time, I tend to try my best to open up and let people in,” Deriq Graves, a second-year student in the IDEAL Program, said. “But from time to time, I felt like I didn’t want to deal with people and just lock myself in my room.”

When asked how he deals with problems and if IDEAL helps in any why Graves said that he tries to find ways to have fun and let people in when I’m feeling stressed.

“I say IDEAL helps with both of these by giving people fun things to do and giving us a nice support group,” Graves said.

Cara Leigh Davis is IDEAL’s academic access coordinator. I turned to her to find out what resources IDEAL has to help with depression.

“There are quite [a lot of ] different resources, [such as the] National Suicide Prevention Hotline,” Davis said. “There are also a lot of blog sites that can help students who are feeling depressed. The blog sites are the websites that are tools to aid with their depression.”

Davis added that resources can also include simply talking to other people, getting some exercises, in particular, mindfulness exercises, which I have seen be extremely helpful.

“It helps you reframe your thoughts, to focus on the positive and all-around try to change your mindset so it can be more positive,” she said.

Editorial NEWS EDITOR Brooklyn Valera

signalnewseditor@gmail.com ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Mary A. Brassfield OPINIONS EDITOR Shari Celestine signalopinions@gmail.com ASSOCIATE OPINIONS EDITOR Vacant arts & living EDITOR Sharayah Davis signalliving@gmail.com ASSOCIATE ARTS & Living EDITOR Vacant SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Freedman signalsport1@gmail.com ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Erik Indrisano COPY EDITOR Miro Georgiev signalcopyeditor@gmail.com

Production PRODUCTION EDITOR Montenez Lowery signalprod@gmail.com

ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION EDITOR Vacant PHOTOGRAPHY PHOTO EDITOR (ATLANTA) Matt Siciliano-Salazar signalphoto1@gmail.com PHOTO EDITOR (PERIMETER) Vacant ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR Vacant

Digital DIGITAL EDITOR Will Holley

signalmanaging@gmail.com ASSOCIATE DIGITAL Editor Vacant VIDEO EDITOR Julia Peake signalvideoeditor@gmail.com associate vIDEO EDITOR Vacant Podcast Editor: Christopher Alston

IDEAL is a program at Georgia State for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Davis sees her role in IDEAL is to help with academics.

“I have to make sure our students are doing extremely well in their classes,” she said.

“If there are any supports, modifications or accommodations that … [need] to be made, they can talk to me. I’ll just talk to the professors or peer mentors, and we get that so that our

PHOTO BY MATT SICILIANO-SALAZAR | THE SIGNAL

students will be successful in their classes.”

The support system in IDEAL is strong and there to help with these feelings and emotions.

I believe that they do a good job with that.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with depression and sadness. It could be exercising, gaming or anything else that helps that person deal with their own depression and sadness.

Embrace the ‘get through school’ mindset If college is rough, do whatever you need to get through BRONSON THARPE Staff Columnist

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efore he succumbed to kidney cancer, my grandfather gave me some excellent advice on the purpose of college. Growing up during the Great Depression, he was the first generation in his family to achieve secondary education of any kind. Because he had nothing, he viewed college as a way to increase future earning potential and nothing more.

“Get your ticket punched,” he once said in his didactic, old-class Southern way of speaking.

That is, where you go to college and the subsequent grades that you receive matter relatively little to the vast majority of your future employers. Going to college was, and still is, a way of getting your metaphorical ticket punched.

After being so poor that he had to rely on his neighbors’ hospitality to play with toys when he was young, my grandfather went on to achieve degrees in chemistry and nuclear engineering.

Later on in his career, he worked to put a nuclear reactor into orbit. None of this would have been possible if he hadn’t been able to get his ticket punched, to get through school, to push forward.

De te fabula narratur — the story applies to you too. Sometimes, it’s easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of college.

When every day is reduced to another class to attend, another exam to cram for, another homework assignment to complete, the light at the end of the tunnel becomes increasingly dim.

Getting through college sometimes requires burning the candle at both ends. As the late Christopher Hitchens once said, you will find that “it often gives a lovely light.”

Your life may revolve around school, but it doesn’t have to be school. It is a dangerous prospect to make your mental health reliant on the status of a semester’s classes. Reorient your mindset to having a good life outside of school instead, and you will find that you feel more valued and fulfilled. People are meant to exist outside the realm of being note-taking and homework machines.

My grandfather used to have another saying, which I only recently understood to be closely linked to the latter.

“Sometimes, you just have to get down and grunt, and that’s OK,” he said.

If life is a train ride to success and contentment, college is the equivalent of getting your ticket punched. That doesn’t mean that you won’t have to work to pay your fare.

Everyone who’s been through it knows that it’s no easy job, and frankly, there’s no point in icing it with platitudes such as “college will be the best years of your life.” By sewing impossible expectations, we reap only disappointment.

College is not intended to be a non-stop thrill ride; it’s not fun. If we continue to tell young people that now is the best they will ever feel, we risk hampering them for the rest of their lives.

That doesn’t mean, however, that your life while in school has to be miserable. This can be achieved by a thorough and complete separation of your being from the university. At the end of the day, you are a person, distinct and separate from your work. Start living like it.

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ARTS & LIVING TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020

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Entering the job market during a pandemic How seniors are tackling exit anxiety this spring HANNA WEILAND Staff Reporter

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he stock market crashed in the beginning of March, seeing one of the worst crashes since the 2008 recession. The entire planet is amid a pandemic, causing municipal shutdowns, self-quarantine and an escalating death rate.

Georgia State students reported back to their homes to begin spring break and finish classes online. All Georgia State commencements are canceled. A 2020 college graduate could not ask for more as they are thrown into the “real world” this summer.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, job seeking was simple.

The ability to apply, score an in-person interview and become hired is a deteriorating concept. Companies are unable to conduct an in-person interview; therefore, job seekers are less likely to be hired. Not only will recent graduates become challenged with finding jobs, the currently employed are likely to lose theirs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 3 million jobs will be missed by summer.

For a recent college graduate with a bachelor’s degree, the already daunting task of submitting applications and interviewing with companies is only getting worse as the media updates the world on what businesses are crashing.

Businesses are less likely to hire recent college students, and the amount of unemployment insurance claims increased to its highest level since Sept. 2, 2017.

For senior journalism student Tia McCullough, every news is bad news this month.

“I can submit an application and get no response, or there are just no open positions at all,” McCullough said.

Without any applications available and the remaining jobs becoming overfilled with recently graduated applicants, the anxiety increases for many students. The idea of not only finishing classes and graduating at home but searching for jobs in the middle of a global economic crisis does not sit well with many graduates.

Layoffs for current employees are to be expected as

the year progresses and will increase with quarantines and store closures. If the current employees are laid off from their jobs, there should be no available jobs at the entry-level. Unemployed workers are unsure whether it is temporary or not.

Senior nursing student Morgan Hash will be one of the few who will enter the job market with relative ease.

“The demand for nurses is pretty high right now,” Hash said. “I guess I am one of the lucky ones who chose a solid career path.”

According to MarketWatch, the jobs that will be impacted the most by the economic collapse induced by COVID-19 will be the travel industry and manufacturing.

Airlines are decreasing the number of domestic flights and already asking for billion-dollar bailouts. Without the typical amount of traveling this year, the hotel and hospitality industry was significantly impacted, causing entire departments to be laid off.

To flatten the curve of coronavirus patients, the film industry vowed to shut down every set currently in production, causing significant delays for premieres and post-production work. Popular film festivals, including South by Southwest, were canceled. SXSW provides exposure for newer and more independent movies. The festival will proceed through online streaming, but the onsite workers no longer have a job.

Film industry member Alex Nagle, who works as a freelance production assistant on many sets in New York, reported that all production members are laid off without pay and should wait for the virus to pass to proceed with work. Nagle will return to Atlanta and live with her parents to save money and wait for time to move.

“The production just stopped, and we were all sent home,” Nagle said. “It is not much you can do when you are a freelance worker.”

With a terrible job market directly on the cusp of the spring graduation, the idea of effortlessly searching and becoming hired at a successful job is general. Before the pandemic started to affect the economy, jobs were already scarce.

Most applications

were searching for entry-level positions but requiring experience as well.

“The weirdest part about applications is the company’s idea of ‘entry-level,’” McCullough said. “But they require the applicant to have at least two years of experience in the position.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 1,975,000 students will be awarded a bachelor’s degree in 2020. The rate increases annually in the hopes that the job market will stay consistent and open.

Graduates have to either stand out, have connections or continue to higher education like senior Madelyn Ott. Ott will be attending the University of Southern California to receive her master’s degree.

“A higher degree means you have more options to choose from once you graduate,” Ott said. “It will look great on your resume, and the education will help in the long run.

Ott encourages students to look beyond just a bachelor’s degree if it is possible. Graduate school can cost as much as $223,800, depending on where a student is accepted.

Although the benefits of a master’s degree appeared to be superior to a bachelor’s degree, students should consider the cost, time and logic of pursuing higher education.

“Think about your major and look at what you can do with it and how far you can go with that degree,” Hash said.

“Do not spend an unnecessary amount of money if most of your job applications require a bachelor’s.”

The 2020 graduates are aware the job market is scarce, and the economy is at an all-time low. To stay above other applicants, students should build connections with people and the businesses they strive to be a part of.

“The key to getting the attention of an employer is to find a person who works at the company, not the employer, and builds a connection with them,” Hash said. “Use social networking to reach out.”

Undergraduates should message through LinkedIn or Instagram if emails are not provided. The catch-all and most common career websites should be avoided.

Applicants can quickly become lost in the thousands of resumes submitted to popular companies; therefore, starting at a smaller business is never a bad idea as long as they are still viable.

ILLUSTRATION BY MARCUS JEFFERSON | THE SIGNAL

SPORTS TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020

www.georgiastatesignal.com/sports

When are sports returning? Nobody knows

From the United States to all over the globe, sports are cancelled ANDREW FREEDMAN Sports Editor

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veryone living through this pandemic will remember it for the rest of their lives: COVID-19 is one of the worst things the world has seen in a long time.

For high school seniors, it takes away the moment for which they waited four years. They will never walk across the stage and hear their name called.

College graduates in the class of 2020 will almost certainly never be able to take pictures in their caps and gowns with friends. Instead, they will finish their academic career through virtual class and say goodbye to friends via Zoom or WebEx, among other platforms.

Throughout our lives, we, the current generation of college, have seen just how impactful sports can be. Sports provide an escape and an outlet to do what we love. However, they do not exist right now. We are still unsure about an NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Championship or when the 2020 Major League Baseball season will begin.

The WNBA Draft is still going to happen on April 17. But players will not be waiting in the green room to hear their name called. Instead, they will be watching the virtual draft from home just like everyone else.

The Utah Jazz’ Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and it shocked the sports world. The ensuing events left athletes questioning their futures.

When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver canceled games for the foreseeable future, it put the sports world on notice.

When the NCAA canceled all sporting events, it woke up anyone questioning the severity of the coronavirus and its impact on society, including Associate Athletic Director Mike Holmes.

“When word started to come out on Wednesday afternoon that we might not play the Georgia State-Georgia Southern game in front of fans (fortunately that did not happen), I knew it was getting serious quick. The dominos quickly started to fall after that,” Holmes said in an email to The Signal.

He was in his office when the NCAA Tournament was canceled. The move did not surprise him or the rest of the athletics department. But the day after the men’s basketball team fell to the Georgia Southern Eagles in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Tournament, spring athletics were also canceled.

“I was a little more surprised with the decision to cancel the spring championships, but unfortunately, I believe it too was inevitable,” Holmes said.

Georgia State boasted a total of 57 seniors during the 2019-20 seasons. Holmes hopes to see each of them back next season.

“By the time we found out all of the championships were cancelled, word was starting to come out that their careers wouldn’t necessarily be over,” he said.

Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reported earlier this month that student-athletes who were participating in spring sports would have another year of eligibility.

But COVID-19 extends far beyond just those seniors. It affects the entire school; the deadly disease continues to sweep through the country. However, Holmes remains optimistic.

“College athletics and the sports world will survive this,” he said. “The [U.S.] is a resilient country and will bounce back and we will enjoy sports again in this country, hopefully before long.”

An avid New York Mets fan, Holmes cannot wait to see reigning MLB National League Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso.

Unfortunately, the athletics department is unable to see its well-rounded student-athletes every day. But everyone is looking to make the most of such a delicate situation.

“As a department, we have maintained contact with all of our student-athletes,” Holmes said. “I have been in touch with some directly related to my sports and most are still upbeat and understanding.”

Aside from the athletics department, Holmes has a family of his own. He and his wife have two children and have continued to stay at home. It did not take long for him to get antsy. He continues to go for runs. They have been the only occasion for him to leave home since March 20.

Holmes has adapted well to the new office of his. It does not come with a view of Georgia State Stadium like the one at work does, though. Instead of interacting with colleagues on a daily

GSU Football players rest during a commercial timeout against University of Tennessee.

basis, Holmes’ communicates with his Panther Family remotely, something he is not used to.

“Working from home has been unique and brought on some challenges while also serving as a homeschool teacher to two little ones,” he said, in reference to his children. “However, about a week in and I think I have found a good routine of balancing everything that needs to be balanced.”

While Holmes works from home, student-athletes will join the rest of the student body and learn from home. Professors have already given students revised schedules. Similarly, his department is working to produce exceptional content for everyone to see. The latest stories can be found on Georgia State’s athletics homepage.

But this is Holmes’ side of the story.

What about the rest of the sports world?

The NFL Draft will still happen from April 23-25, but the fans watch the next face of their franchise shake the commissioner’s hand live. The event is closed to the public.

The upcoming WNBA Draft will still happen on April 17. However, it will be a virtual event. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will announce the draft picks live on ESPN.

PHOTO BY MATTHEW SICILIANO-SALAZAR | THE SIGNAL

“The MLB season was set to begin this past Thursday. A recent agreement between the league and its Players Association did not give a specific date for Opening Day.” Rather, it stated that the season will not begin until the players can play in front of crowds and travel restrictions throughout the U.S. and Canada are terminated, among other things.

The NBA postponed its season following the conclusion of its final game on March 12 after Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gobert became the first confirmed professional athlete to test positive for COVID-19 in the U.S. Rumors began on Friday suggesting that games could move to the Bahamas or Las Vegas to finish the season.

The NHL suspended its season on March 12. Most recently, the NHL Combine, NHL Awards Show and the NHL Draft were all postponed. Each was scheduled to happen in June.

The Olympic Games were set in stone for the summer. The stone broke when the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee released this statement on Friday.

Only time will tell when fans can go back to watching live sports again.

You are not alone THE EDITORIAL BOARD

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hen we decided as an editorial board to do a mental health issue, several of us wanted to share our experiences.

Yes, we are burying the lede (for our non-journalists, this is the main purpose for a story), but we want you to read those experiences first.

Ever since he was young, one of us has always been keen on helping others and finding solutions to their problems. But he didn’t realize it was his way of ignoring his own problems that he has faced for as long as he could remember.

After ignoring his symptoms for a long time, it was in 2019 when he finally realized that he needed help.

It took a while for him to realize this because he came from an immigrant, Latinx family, which made him feel as though he had no one to talk to, or even relate to. In his experiences, many Latinx or Hispanic households do not believe that mental illness is real. It wasn’t until his mother was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder that something like this was talked about and semi-accepted in his family.

Since then, he has been more willing to open up to his family about depression, anxiety, self-hatred and the feeling of isolation after shutting himself in his room every day, having trouble breathing after crying for hours and refusing to have any sort of interaction with anyone, all while faking a smile to the world that he was okay, that he was happy.

What aided him in processing and opening himself up more to this situation is making sure he had at least one person to not only talk to but also to try to understand everything he was going through. He no longer has to keep it inside because now he knows people with mental illnesses experience them in different ways.

Internal happiness was a feeling he never knew. He always read about it, but self-love and motivation were two concepts he could only dream of. When he overslept, it was not always because he was on his phone the previous night. Sometimes, he would mentally beat himself up and count the people who would notice if he was gone.

He was admitted into a mental hospital for 72 hours, some of the most memorable hours of his life. The diagnosis: anxiety and depression. People told him that he was too young to be there and that he did not belong there.

Instead, they encouraged him to live his early adult years to the fullest.

They were right, but it took that shy kid three years to realize what it meant to be happy.

He met his first girlfriend, his best friend, his everything.

He has a workout regiment, and unlike middle school when he didn’t eat much, he has a diet that he usually sticks to. He has close friends, goals and dreams — one day waking up and going to a dream job he has wanted since seventh grade.

He knows he is far from perfect just like everyone else.

It took him a couple of months to find himself after his stay at the mental hospital, and he knows that he is strong.

Mental illness has taken enough lives — it almost took his.

But he is not alone, and neither are you.

For as long as he could remember, one of us felt this nagging sense that he was the only person who existed and that everyone else around him wasn’t really “there.”

Coming from a Slavic background, where there is a lot of stigma surrounding any discussion of mental illness, he tended to keep all of his problems to himself, believing that his family could never understand his struggles.

It wasn’t until he rejoined The Signal after a year-long break from the paper that he was reminded unequivocally that he did not have to trudge along in school alone because there were other people who cared enough to listen or talk to him about the things that interest or concern him.

Knowing that some of his colleagues at The Signal have gone through similar or even worse experiences reminds him how valuable it is just to talk to someone about anything, even if it seems trivial or unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

She didn’t know if she would find her voice again. One of us grew up with a mom who always reared her to be confident and opinionated. When she reached high school, her self-esteem began to waver.

She would try to talk to her mom about it, but her mom would talk about how absurd it was for her to feel that way.

During that time of self-doubt, she was v sexually assaulted. She kept it to herself for about three months before eventually confiding in a group of friends. Soon after, she was called a liar.

Of the people she confided in, one even went on to date the man.

She finally opened up to her mom about it, and her mom taught her the art of forgiveness. She didn’t have to physically

talk to him, she just had to mentally forgive him for her own sake. It took a few years, but she can say that she forgives him. She won’t let him have power over her anymore.

She’s always dealt with anxiety but the experience made her a more anxious person. But laughter helped bring her out of that dark hole. Joining The Signal helped her find her voice again. In an office where her opinion is valued, she’s not afraid to speak up anymore.

Now, she will not hesitate to tell someone that she is uncomfortable. She is cautious around grown men, but she has found men that she can trust since then. She’s in a relationship now, and she refuses to let the experience serve as an obstacle on her route to happiness.

Past experiences can affect you deeply. Living with a single mother of three, one of us stayed home many days to care for an infant and a 6-year-old while her mother worked. At the same time, she was in a relationship that was sexually abusive. She was only 12 years old.

In high school, she was diagnosed with depression, generalized anxiety disorder and mild OCD. She didn’t even realize she was underweight until a doctor weighed her at only 60 pounds, for her, it was just another thing wrong with her.

She spent years on medication, trying to find what worked for her, treating her mental illnesses and gaining weight, all very stressful experiences. She often wondered, “What is wrong with me?”

In college, her depression subsided some as her anxiety and her OCD skyrocketed. She felt nothing she ever did was good enough. Everything in her life needed to be perfect.

She needed to be perfect.

She put so much on her plate, over 40 hours of work a week, 16 credit hours in school, The Signal, her family, a social life and planning for the future.

But was there a future? With suicidal thoughts, she wasn’t sure.

Why would she worry so much about a future when she didn’t want one?

But she was wrong then and she is here to share that experience with the other editors — to share an experience with the world. She is still learning to balance anxiety, depression and OCD all at once. But she felt how valuable this opportunity is, to be able to share a painful experience and to heal a little more by hearing another’s.

The reason we’ve decided to share this isn’t revolutionary.

You’ve probably heard it before: You aren’t alone. But it’s more true than anyone will ever know. Together, we found people in our own work environment who had been through the same experiences, or at least very similar ones.

And we hope that if you’ve been through it too, you have read this and will remind yourself every day, “I am not alone.”

Mental illness is real, and talking about it is important.

Its discussion and the number of people who battle with it has been highlighted with our generation. But just because it’s been said before doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to be said again: The stigma behind mental health and talking about it with others needs to go.

For us, hearing what others have been through — relating to some parts and finding how different we are from others — really reminded us that, no, we don’t all go through the same experiences, but we are still connected by the collective experience of experiencing it at all.

PAGE DESIGN BY MONTENEZ LOWERY | THE SIGNAL

letter FROM the editor

If you can’t go outside, go INSIDE

What to expect from The Signal — and yourself — under a global pandemic

Y

ou know what the world is facing right now, you’ve heard it from The Atlanta JournalConstitution, CNN, The New York Times and maybe even your own student media organizations, like The Signal and Panther Report News.

With the number of confirmed cases worldwide approaching 500,000 and global deaths surpassing 20,000, the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus, is something everyone is aware of at this point. In our own state of Georgia, we’ve seen 1,387 confirmed cases, a

massive growth from the first two cases in the state that were identified only three weeks ago.

As I wrote this, the day before was the deadliest day for coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. yet. Then, before publication, another day was the deadliest yet. This trend is, sadly, something that will likely continue.

As a student, you’ve seen a series of events unfold over the past few weeks: Georgia State University President Mark Becker established the Public Health Preparedness Task Force, a petition that has now received more than 120,000 signatures to close campus was made and students brought their concerns to the Student Government Association.

Soon after, an announcement that campus would be closed for two weeks was made as students in University Housing scrambled to understand what they were to do next.

The University System of Georgia moved courses online for the remainder of the semester, the spring graduation ceremony was cancelled, a Georgia State staff member tested positive for the virus and the university worked to provide students with the resources to move online and issue partial refunds.

As this is published, if you’re a student or a professor, you’ve likely just begun what will be weeks of online courses.

In just a matter of weeks, everything you know as a student has changed. And as editor-in-chief of The Signal, I’ve had to rapidly adapt an entire team to these

changes as well.

Many of our staff members have been severely impacted by the virus. Some had to quickly find a new living situation as the dorms closed and others have lost jobs and are struggling to pay for living expenses.

At this time, my staff ’s well-being is more important to me than anything, and I’m doing my best to help in any way I can and provide them the space they need to problem-solve.

However, you can expect the same you always have from The Signal. Every Tuesday, check-in at GeorgiaStateSignal. com for all of the weekly stories we would have published if campus was still open. You’ll find a neat little box at the top of our homepage directing you to the latest issue.

Printing has provided some complications, as no

one will be on campus to pick up an issue themselves.

Instead, find a weekly PDF, a “mini issue” of sorts, that looks just like The Signal you know and love, albeit a bit smaller.

For staff, alumni and the most dedicated readers of The Signal, when campus reopens, we will provide printed, limited editions of these four mini issues.

Just stop by The Signal office in room 250 of Student Center West (above Chick-fil-A and across from the transportation desk) and request one. Be quick, because quantity will be extremely limited!

Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed some developments at The Signal. We’ve upped our social media activity — @GSUSignal on Instagram and Twitter — so give us a follow to keep updated.

Our new website homepage was released with tons of new functions: drop us a “tip” for a story idea, check out the weekly international news highlights in briefs or sports highlights in Three Big Things or ask one of our opinion columnists for advice.

On that page, you’ll see a neat blue box where you can enter your email to receive our weekly newsletter, State of The State, in your inbox every Tuesday, with the editor’s picks of their favorite stories of the week.

On Twitter and SoundCloud, every Thursday, you’ve seen our podcast, “Signal Sound,” recapping campus, local, national and international news weekly in five minutes.

All of these amazing developments will be yours

to continue to enjoy, despite the campus closure.

Our team is committed to providing you our best, no matter what.

However, that doesn’t mean we’ve gone without impact from the virus. Several unique challenges have been posed, from the issue of printing to holding virtual production meetings to what a photography team looks like when everyone practices social distancing.

As we’ve had to change our daily lives, surely you have too. In Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has issued a 14-day stay-at-home order, as Gov. Brian Kemp takes action, along with other local government officials across the state.

Most of you reading this have recently isolated yourself in self-quarantine, for what right now looks like an indefinite amount of time. The Signal decided several weeks ago to make this issue the Mental Health Issue before we expected to be where we are.

But I find it quite fitting that these two events coincide. I know many of you are facing these rapid changes, harsh realities and anxiety of what this all means and where we as a society are going.

So, I say, if you can’t go outside, go inside.

If you can, take this time to focus on yourself, care for your mental health and perhaps do some internal reflection.

While the world is experiencing changes, maybe you can put in place some much-needed change in your own life.

Pick up a hobby, learn a new instrument, complete some unfinished business or take some time to declutter your space. Nourish your body with healthy food, learn to cook some new recipes or practice ways to get your body active with an at-home workout, a jog around the neighborhood or a yoga routine.

All of these habits may provide your heart and head some solace, but it may help to implement more targeted practices for your mental health. Try meditation (the Headspace app is a great start and they offer a $9.99 per year student option), journaling or get creative with watercolors or any other art form.

Feed your brain during this time, read a book that’s grown dusty on the shelf, self-study something you’ve always wanted to learn or, if you’re religious, take some time to practice your faith, the way you love best.

While we must acknowledge these times are hard for many and even harder for some, try to find the sunlight, the silver lining, the one good thing that may come out of all this trouble in your life. No, don’t ignore reality and what the world is going through, but it’s ok to find positivity wherever you can.

Make a change — care for yourself, care for others and care for the world.

We will be here, Ada Wood Editor-in-Chief of The Signal PAGE DESIGN BY MONTENEZ LOWERY | THE SIGNAL