Living with schizophrenia can be challenging, but building community definitely changed my perspective on my mental illness. I am still in shock, that I was hired to be a part of this program. The vulnerable side of me thought..
"I won't ever get hired because of my age and mental illness."
As I stated, the statistics don't lie. Most of America's drug affiliates are schizophrenics, Bipolar, or Depressed. What can I possibly say in my interview that could possibly change this narrative?
as you can see, my thoughts were not being very supportive at the time, but my determination to be a part of a movement kept me going.
First off RAM's stands for "Richmond Area Multi Services".
So.. what did I learn from this six-teen week program?
Being a part of Ram's Peer Certificate Program expanded my views on intersectionality. As I stated in my college paper, intersectionality is the idea that every.single.group ... black, Hispanic, Indian, White, etc. all experience some type of discrimination.
For example..
It was the evening, my Ram's associates had just finished eating burritos. I was holding a very dark secret from them...
"I have schizophrenia." I stated
I could give you 1000 reasons as to why I said that. Schizophrenics are at risk of being victims of assault. I was in need of them seeing me for me.
"Oh wow! I have autism." they replied
My point in sharing this, is to remind you that your flaws don't need to be buried in your heart. Someone out there may need to hear your story, in order to be at peace. Schizophrenia, autism, tourettes, etc still don't get enough promotion due to media outlets "not believing them" or thinking it's a publicity stunt. I am lucky to have made life-long memories with my cohort.
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