Listen to Students With Psychosis
It is important to include those with psychosis on college campuses in conversations. The conversations about psychosis should also include those with different experiences. At this webinar, members of Students With Psychosis (SWP) will speak about how they assess this current need. SWP has empowered student leaders around the world through community building and collaboration. At SWP, students can be students and meet fellow peers. They are not limited by their diagnosis. SWP allows students to decide what their nonprofit group should be. The students also decide what issues are the most important to address.
Learning Objectives:
- Gain knowledge about valuing the global perspective of psychosis lived experience.
- Identify how to include persons with psychosis in workplaces and classrooms.
- Identify how to support students with psychosis and get more involved.
This webinar will be recorded and available to the public within one week. We do not offer CEUs but are happy to provide a certificate of attendance upon request.
About the Presenters
Students With Psychosis was founded as a Pennsylvania State University college club in 2018 named “Students With Schizophrenia” and later rebranded to be more inclusive. They place students at the decision-making table with 100% of their executive board members being current student leaders or recently graduated alumni. The unconventional approach to their executive board structure helps them reflect on the community's needs better and gives a voice and decision-making power to the marginalized and underrepresented community they serve. They have had 25 million views on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook combined in collaboration with TEDx, Special Books By Special Kids, Barcroft TV, and Anthony Padilla. They have been featured in Glamour UK, Women’s Health Magazine, CBS This Morning national news, twice in Forbes, a PBS documentary, USA Today College, Healthline, Daily Mail, The Indian Express, MTV University, WGBH, and Mental Health America’s social media. At this webinar, you will hear from their team of Cecilia McGough, Shira Agam, Emeka Chima, Baileigh Renfrow, Aly Struble and Laura Kordowski.
Cecilia McGough - Cecilia McGough is a New York City-based mental health activist, nonprofit executive director, media consultant, and radio astronomer. Cecilia also happens to have schizophrenia but does not let her diagnosis define her. Cecilia is the founder and executive director of the global nonprofit Students With Psychosis. As a TEDx speaker, Special Books By Special Kids interviewee, and Anthony Padilla interviewee, Cecilia’s story has been viewed over 25 million times over multiple platforms across the globe and featured in Forbes, Glamour UK, Women’s Health Magazine, Barcroft TV, and on CBS This Morning national news. Cecilia is an UNLEASH talent who traveled to Denmark in August of 2017 to be an active voice toward attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to make sure people with psychosis are represented. Also, Cecilia has been selected as the keynote speaker for the Schizophrenia International Research Society 2022 Congress. At the age of 17, Cecilia co-discovered PSR J1930-1852 leading to opportunities such as helping represent the United States in the International Space Olympics in Russia and also being a Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholar through the NASA Langley Research Center. Cecilia’s story as a radio astronomer through the Pulsar Search Collaboratory can be seen in the documentary Little Green Men. Together, she believes we can change the face of schizophrenia.
Shira Agam - Shira Agam is a mental health advocate, student, teacher, trumpeter, and scientist. She is the President of the Executive Board of Students With Psychosis. Shira has lived with severe mental illness her entire life, with diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder, anorexia, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and a learning difference. This may seem like a lot, but it does not stop her from dreaming big and doing what she loves. Shira teaches grades one to university, performs trumpet around the globe, works in research labs, and has recently started to advocate over Instagram (@psychosis_diaries) and YouTube (@Students With Psychosis). She believes that mental health education is a way to break down stigma and help people take better care of their minds.
Emeka Chima - Emeka Chima is 22 years old and from the state of Maryland. He is an undergrad studying for his bachelor’s degree in information systems management at the University of Maryland Global Campus. He is a two-time Dean’s List recipient. In 2014, during his junior year of high school, Emeka was diagnosed with mild schizophrenia. Years later, during his mental health journey, he joined Students With Psychosis in April 2020 and later became inducted into the 2020-2021 SWP Executive Board as Secretary. Through Students With Psychosis, he has become a mental health advocate and continues to divulge his story and lived experience with his condition. In his spare time, Emeka immerses himself in free-writing and enjoys playing the piano and cello.
Baileigh Renfrow - Freethinker, writing enthusiast, certified storm spotter, and self-proclaimed fitness junkie, Baileigh Renfrow is also a dedicated mental health advocate. Her passion for raising awareness and educating her community stems from a lifelong battle with depression and her more recent diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. She believes that the simple act of using her voice can help overcome the gross misrepresentations and stigmatization that come with the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder. Baileigh graduated from the University of Memphis magma cum laude with a degree in earth sciences and enjoys all things outdoors. She is honored to be a member of the Students With Psychosis Executive Board and achieve side-by-side with her peers by developing ideas through creative thinking.
Aly Struble - Musician, poet, and dedicated student of mental health counseling, Aly Struble started her time with Students With Psychosis as a student leader, intern, and now serves as an Executive Board member. Aly is graduating from The Pennsylvania State University with a rehabilitation and human services degree in August of 2021. After that, she is jumping right into a master’s program at The University of Rochester to pursue a degree in clinical mental health counseling. Her passion for mental health advocacy drives her career goal to work as a licensed mental health counselor specializing in group therapy. Aly’s dream is to empower those living with severe mental illnesses all over the globe to use their voices to speak up for themselves and others within the mental health community. Students With Psychosis has allowed Aly to find her voice for herself. Aly is proud to be a part of Students with Psychosis and looks forward to the future!
Laura Kordowski - Laura Kordowski is from New York and has received her Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts, Bachelor of Arts in History, and Master of Science in Library and Information Science while living with psychosis. She has experience working in human services and currently works in a public library. She likes taking photography outdoors because there are many parallels in nature with mental health that she tries to capture in the pictures she shares. She has been an Outreach Intern through Students With Psychosis and is now a member of the Executive Board.