Raab

Raab Writing Fellows

Program Inspires

Student Voices Seeing the Future of Health

Acollege education consists of more than just a degree and a major. University time allows a student to discover which issues are meaningful to them and develop by Zach Rosen Johns Hopkins is offering a free online course in psychological first aid. I solation, combined with health concerns, social justice frustrations, and economic uncertainty, has taken a toll on all of us. To help people become better mental health supporters, Johns Hopkins University is now offerthe voice that will continue into their ing a free online course in psychological first aid. career. The Raab Writing Fellows The course has a 4.8/5 rating from the nearly 8,000 people who’ve reviewed it Program within the Writing Program and is taught by psychologist George S. Everly, PhD who teaches students his at UC Santa Barbara is helping stuRAPID model for dealing with emergency mental health situations: Reflective dents find that voice. Funded by listening, Assessment of needs, Prioritization, Intervention, and Disposition. UCSB Trustee and esteemed writer Reflective listening and assessing needs are critical for determining whethand poet Diana Raab, this program er someone just needs a shoulder to lean on or more professional help. A offers an opportunity of collaborasignificant portion of the course is also dedicated to making a plan for further tion and mentorship to a select group action to make sure the interaction is followed up with necessary action. of students in a variety of majors. We all want to help in times of need, but knowing where to start when Each student is free to choose their it comes to mental health issues can be difficult. For more resources, check topic of interest and receives oneout our article on creating a company culture that supports mental health. on-one guidance as they develop And, for our Santa Barbara locals, make sure to check out the Santa Barbara their idea over the course of a year. Response Network which supports fellow community members through This program culminates in a final traumatic experiences and toward resilient recovery. project that presents an interdisciplinary body of writing in a variety of mediums including websites, UCSB Trustee, esteemed writer, and poet Diana Raab New bionic eye could restore sight research papers, and zines, among other formats. Twenty-four students focused on the idea of liminality, the ambiguous state of identity, of and even offer night vision. participated this year, representing mixed-race individuals growing up Prosthesis technology has come a long way in recent years, but the human the largest group the program has in America. Ebelechukwu Veronica eye has always been difficult to replicate. Now, scientists have designed a ever seen. The love and support the Eseka explored the role of immigrant prototype for the first 3D artificial bionic eye, which could let users see better students have for each other’s work and international students’ names than with the real deal. was apparent as they met this past and how these have affected their Developed by a team of scientists at Hong Kong University of Science and week on Zoom to present their final experiences here. Technology (HKUST), the Electrochemical Eye (EC-Eye) is modeled after projects to a group of professors, Jaymes Johnson crafted a series of the human retina and, instead of using a 2D camera, the surface is studded mentors, and peers. The teleconpoems and essays that weave a perwith an array of tiny light sensors designed to mimic the photoreceptors on ference format was a sign of the sonal story of his experiences with a human retina. times but so was the broad range of life and death, the racial injustices Current bionic eyes have already been implanted in patients and show meaningful topics the students chose he has witnessed, and his memories potential for restoring sight or even giving it to people who never had it in to focus on. Topics spanned from of growing up as a gay black man. the first place. These existing models use a pair of glasses to capture imagery gender and sexual identity issues Many of the projects had this perdata, send it to an implant in the retina, and then transmit the signal to the to racial injustices, the harmony of sonal or family influence, reflecting visual centers of the brain. The cameras in the new model are actually located voices represented in these projects the messages that mean the most to inside the implant, offering a much more high-tech version of these original reflected the complexity of the contheir creator. Emma Demorest promodels. versations currently taking place in duced a scripted comedy series about The team has a ways to go, but we can definitely see the potential for this the country, with the well researched, an 80-year-old and recent graduate revolutionary technology! •MJ data-oriented reasoning one typically living as roommates in the Bay Area. finds in academic writing. This unlikely duo stems from her

Given that the students came from own experiences of living with an part blend of essays and an accomyoung adults with suicidal impulses a multitude of majors and were free 80-year-old, who has become one panying zine that focused on the to garner support and understanding to choose their own topic, the projects of her closest friends. Growing up financial and emotional impact of from those around them. Once comcovered various subjects from a variwith a younger sister on the autism reproductive health and menstrual pleted, the video game will be accomety of angles. While the role of cultural spectrum, Jocelyn Lemus-Valle hygiene services and the presence panied by artwork and music. The identity, race, and effects of immigrachose to focus her project on support of slut-shaming within the campus students’ projects remain in varying tion were common topics, the differfor students on the autism spectrum and its healthcare facilities. Various levels of completion due to the extra ent projects exhibited the intricacy of in higher education, identifying the forms of media were present and layer of complexity the quarantine these conversations. Sheila Tran prosilent needs of these students in colthe popularity of the podcast format has brought to everything, however duced a longform journalism project leges. Her website addressed these was apparent with several projects the program website will be updatunearthing the origins and impact of topics, examining professor awareusing this platform to bring meaned as their work is completed. One Vietnamese Culture Night, a notable ness and thoughts on the issue, as ingful conversations to a wide range thing is clear, these students are well part of the Vietnamese cultural idenwell as directing viewers to resources of topics. Kisakye Naiga even wrote equipped to meet the challenges the tity. In “Metamorphosis” by Emily and information. a musical, complete with a musical world is currently facing and will Nguyen, the history of Vietnam War The program encourages an interscore, titled “More Than This” that bring their own voices and style to immigrants and their experiences in disciplinary approach with students details the lives of four young black the conversation. America are explored through a colincorporating several art forms and women as they enter college. Ector Visit raabwritingfellows.com for lection of introspective essays that writing styles into their finished Flores-Garcia chose the unique form more information and to see each of place these topics in both a personal work. Hannah Jackson combined of a choice-based video game directthese twenty-four impressive projand broader context. Melody Roth data and shared stories in a threeed towards helping students and ects. •MJ 22 MONTECITO JOURNAL “The only time a woman really succeeds in changing a man is when he is a baby.” – Natalie Wood 25 June – 2 July 2020