Living a
Life on Purpose By Achea Redd ’02, B.A. in Public Relations & Marketing Author, Entrepreneur and Mental Wellness Advocate
I look back on my time at Ohio Dominican with great fondness and a true appreciation for its role in helping me become the person I am today. I didn’t realize it at the time – few students do – but each second of my ODU journey impacted my life in profound ways. This past August, I had the privilege of addressing ODU’s incoming class of students at Convocation. What a surreal experience. As I stood there, I couldn’t help but picture myself in the audience more than 20 years earlier when, as an 18-year-old freshman, I was at a particularly vulnerable stage. For so many years since childhood, I had been trying to figure out what my place was in the world. I’ve struggled with depression and eating disorders, and in 2016, was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a condition that I tried to hide. I eventually sought help and, thanks to my family, doctors and, above all else, God, I am in a much better place today. I’m not alone, though. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 40 million U.S. adults have an anxiety disorder. In an effort to help others, and as a form of self-expression and healing, I created a blog to share my feelings about mental health and authenticity and to equip women with tools they can use to find their voices. I’ve also shared my experiences in two books, with a third scheduled to be published this spring. Without Ohio Dominican, I don’t know that I’d be comfortable or willing to share these most personal struggles, but I’m so glad I have. See, while I came to ODU because it was private, had a beautiful campus, and offered small class sizes, its motto, “To contemplate truth and to share with others the fruits of this contemplation,” is what has stuck with me all these years. I am grateful to ODU because it was there that I discovered a love affair with learning, began my journey to question everything, found my purpose in life and learned my place in this world. Visit Achea’s blog at achearedd.com.
6 Ohio Dominican University
