Faces of MAC

As reported in the July issue, MAC member Jocelyn Libby and personal trainer Garrett Schnell were hard at work preparing for the Spartan Sprint Race in Washougal, Washington, on Saturday, Aug. 7. Readers who’ve been in suspense ever since should be happy to know that they survived the experience and are glad they undertook it!

The event was a 3-mile run through 20 obstacles, including rope climbing, monkey bars, rings, scaling and descending from 8-10 foot walls, crawling under barbed wire in mud, and carrying heavy bags and barrels — 80 pounds for men, 40-50 pounds for women, up and down steep hills. The only miss for the duo was a spearthrowing obstacle where they had a single chance to hit a target.

“I could not have done it without the coaching and training from Garrett and his continued encouragement as we went through the event,” Libby says.

Living through COVID can make anyone feel isolated, but for teenagers who missed out on a year of social interactions at school, the transition to a new reality was particularly tough. Cleveland High School sophomore Lauren Metcalf and a group of friends from around the Portland metro area decided to do something about those feelings, creating a podcast designed to bring the world together.

Titled All in My Head: Real Teens, Real Talk, it raises awareness about BIPOC — Black, Indigenous, People of Color — and LGBTQ+ issues, specifically relating to teens. In recent months, they’ve produced nine episodes, with the help of grants from the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide in partnership with the Association of Oregon Community Mental Health Programs, and funding from the Oregon Health Authority.

“As a result of the pandemic, many youths felt extremely disconnected from their communities. We recognized that this was severely impacting young people’s mental health and wanted to provide a platform through which youth could share their experiences in order to build a kind of virtual community,” Metcalf says. “We’ve had people from as far away as Kenya reach out and tell us how incredible it was to have themselves and their identities represented

in a podcast. We’ve also partnered with community organizations like the Sexual and Gender Minority Resource Center and showed up at events to physically support LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth in Portland.”

Metcalf adds that she and her collaborators conducted intentional recruitment within BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities and are constantly striving to keep their group as diverse as possible. “Our podcast is open to all, and we believe that our best work comes from a diverse group with diverse perspectives. For example, within our core group, we have genderqueer, African, AAPI, white, gay, female, male, autistic, Indigenous, and asexual identities represented.”

“Due to the many protests and movements over the past two years, people are feeling more willing to change and are reflecting on their own identities and attitudes,” Metcalf continues. “I think it’s really valuable to continue talking through suicide, disparities in healthcare, and other difficult topics in order to engage in thoughtful selfreflection that helps to develop our morals and perspective.”

Listen and follow on Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple podcasts, or wherever quality podcasts can be found.

Submit information for Faces of MAC to wingedm@themac.com.