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Performance highlights mental illness stigmas

April 9, 2014

Embrace the Rain focused on the same topics of mental health issues and awareness in the MSU community. It is based on last year’s Heavy and Light event, which alumnus Tyler Trahan played an integral role in organizing. Both events featured testimonials, poetry and musical performances.

“I thought (the event) was going to be a one time thing,” Trahan said of Heavy and Light. “I was so pleasantly surprised and proud that ... people were so into it and really wanted to continue making a difference.”

Embrace the Rain was one of several events focused on students’ awareness of mental health as part of MSU’s first Mental Health Awareness Week. The week touches on the small number of students who actually receive treatment for mental illnesses or disorders due to the stigma often placed on those who live with them.

Campus a cappella group Capital Green also performed at the event.

Trahan was invited to Embrace the Rain and gave his testimonial and recited a poem by Buddy Wakefield, a widely-known presence in the world of spoken word poetry.

“It’s an incredibly moving experience,” Trahan said. “It’s a beautiful night of expression and community and resources.”

Trahan said he believes the initiative is a “step in the right direction” for the university to increase understanding of mental illness.

MSU Student Advisory Health Council President Marisa Martini helped organize the event and has been looking forward to seeing the event’s impact on students. She said she is grateful for the support of sponsors like ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, which provided funding for the event.

MSU Slam Poetry Team Vice President and event organizer Marianne Caddy also said the poets were looking forward to performing their testimonies integrated into a slam poetry format. She said many members, including herself, use poetry as a way to release tension and express themselves.

Despite the serious topic of the event, both Caddy and Martini said they believe students can gain something positive from it.

“We want people to walk away with a hopeful feeling,” Caddy said.

Staff reporter Sierra Lay contributed to this report.

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