In this debut episode of “The Thoughts Inside,” podcast host and Georgia State University student Tomi dives into the minds of young adults at Silence The Shame University Fest at Morehouse College.

Here, students from various Atlanta-area colleges chat about their transition to college life and how that this stage of being a teen affects their mental health. These discussions cover topics such as achieving independence, dealing with mental health issues, accepting change, and developing confidence in one’s identity. This episode also provides valuable advice to help teens navigate this phase of their life.

For more mental health stories and resources, please visit our mental health content page! 

Transcript:

Tomi: Hello, everyone. My name is Tomi, and I’m your host of “The Thoughts Inside.” This is the first episode, and today we’re at Silence The Shame Fest, capturing the vibrant voices of young adults as we discuss the transition from teenage years to adulthood. We’ll be speaking with people from all walks of life here at Morehouse College, sharing their unique stories, insights, and advice. I hope you’re as excited as I am. Let’s dive in. 

Tomi: Hello, I’m here with —

Lorna: Lorna Morris, and I am a first-year psychology major on the pre-med track from Spelman College.

Tomi: In growing up, what’s been one of the biggest challenges you faced while transitioning from a teen to an adult?

Lorna: I think moving away from a lot of what my parents taught me and trying to incorporate my own life experiences in my development of myself and my self-esteem and self-worth and how I perceive myself, especially in different communities, and being able to navigate that on my own, as opposed to — and in growing up from — a very… not conservative childhood, but more so — your parents teach you everything that you need to know. And it was definitely more sheltered. So navigating away from that and becoming my own person.

Tomi: Hello, I’m here with —

Kayla: Kayla, a graduate student at Mercer University.

Tomi: And how old are you?

Kayla: 23.

Tomi: In growing up, what’s been one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced since transitioning from a teen to an adult?

Kayla: I think being open to change, whether that be personally, professionally, academically, whatever you are thinking of. Just be open to unlearning that and trying to get through, ultimately, what you want to do, regardless of what anybody else thinks or has insight on. Ultimately, you just have to be like, “Yeah, okay. Why not? Why not me?”

Tomi: Hello, I’m here with —

Lani: Lani. I’m 17 years old, and I go to Cedar Grove High School. 

Mainly just figuring out what I want to do in life, because I’m one of those people who have a whole lot of hobbies. So, I wanted to incorporate that into what I want to do for my future career, because I don’t want to be unhappy. And then also the mental health part of it. It’s just draining trying to figure it out sometimes. It’s every extracurricular and trying to graduate on time.

Tomi: It’s a lot. 

Tomi: What’s a piece of advice that you wish you received when you were a teen?

Kayla: A piece of advice I wish I received as a teen is… when you said that I thought of the piece of advice I heard all the time, which was pretty much: “What’s for you is for you.” Nobody can pretty much take that from you. It is what it is. You just have to pretty much read it. So I guess the piece of advice I wish I heard more was: Be confident. Just go for it. Literally, like I said earlier, “Why not you?” There’s literally no reason why you can’t do it. There’s so much opportunity. There’s so much open space that’s just waiting for you to take it up. So just go for it!

Tomi: Thank you so much for leaving our teens with that piece of advice.

Lani: Mainly just — it gets better. Once you really do figure it out, you’ll be fine. Even if I don’t “know know,” by the time I have to know, I’ll figure it out and it will be fine. 

Tomi: Hello, I’m here with —

Roderick: Roderick, 21. I go to Alabama State University. I’m a poli-sci major with a minor in education.

I think the biggest challenge I faced was honoring my sense of independence going into my adulthood. So it was like, I felt like growing up, I had a sense of independence as a youth, but at the same time, it was a difference when it’s like independence with no one watching. Knowing how to be responsible in those moments, showing maturity, and things of that nature — like becoming a young adult is a hard thing to do. You encounter a lot of things that kind of craft you into the type of adult you want to be, and you encounter a few lessons along the way.

Tomi: How were you able to handle the challenges you just mentioned?

Roderick: I feel like I took my mistakes and really learned from them. Also, it was like… I went through things that kind of shifted the way I thought as an adult — like experiencing depression at a young age, like 18, first year of college, and going through that depression phase. It was something that kind of shifted me as an adult. Like from that experience, I started going to see a therapist, seeking new methods to try to figure out what was going on in my life. And that was the first time I had to do something on my own, without my mom being like, “Okay, this is what you are going to do.” It was like, “You’re in a tough spot. What do you do for help?”

Tomi: I know you just mentioned depression and experiencing that, which I feel a lot of people experience in their transition from a teen to an adult. You talked about some of the methods you used. Do you have any advice for people going through that right now and what they can do to get better?

Roderick: I feel like the biggest thing with depression is oftentimes you feel unheard. So finding a method to make your voice be heard — whether it’s journaling, finding a friend that you can confide in, going to see a therapist, yoga, doing something for mindfulness — that’ll help you get to a space where you’re feeling like you can be openly expressive with at least yourself. So that you’re able to admit what’s going on and grow through that experience, and learn ways that you can really empower yourself to get back into a better place.

Tomi: Thank you so much for sharing. Your words have been so impactful, and I know they’re going to help so many teens who are listening to this podcast right now.

Tomi: Hello, I’m here with —

Jezzalyn: Jezzalyn, a graduate student at Clark Atlanta University.

First and foremost, you have to do things for yourself. Your parents have a track that they live on. Your grandparents have a pathway that they lived on. And, of course, everyone will want you to follow in the same footsteps as others. But this life that you live is for you. So you have to do things for yourself, whether it’s right or wrong in others’ eyes. The way you live is living for yourself.

Tomi: That’s a really important lesson. How were you able to come up with this lesson?

Jezzalyn: Personally, I got pushed into becoming independent because I have five siblings — five sisters. All girls, no brothers.

Tomi: Are you the oldest or the youngest?

Jezzalyn: I’m a middle child. We are so close in age that every time events would happen, my family would go and tend to my younger siblings versus tending to what I had going on. So it forced me to be for myself in a way. I would make decisions, and my decisions — my parents wouldn’t really agree with the decisions — but the outcome of the decision that I made always turned out to be positive. So then they started to look at me like, “Okay, then maybe you can do that.” But at the end of the day, they always are still going to have their own thoughts of what I have going on in their head. So I just had to grow into a mentality of: I’m doing this for me and not for anyone else.

Tomi: I love that. That is very true. It’s really important for teens to hear that because I feel like a lot of teens can hear you out when you talk about how you were a middle child and you felt as though you weren’t being seen. How can you take this piece of advice and implement it within your life going forward?

Jezzalyn: Going forward, I would say: Put your best foot forward. When you’re going through this journey of life, it’s full of taking risks. And I am a person who is fearful of taking risks. But if you don’t take risks, then you won’t see any outcome. If you don’t put anything forward, you won’t get anything back. So you have to make those steps in order to see the things that you want to see, whether the outcome is good or bad. You have to take that risk and be willing to be okay with whatever the outcome is.

Tomi: Thank you so much for your powerful words. I hope to see you listening to our episode later on. Thank you so much.

Anonymous: A little background. My parents — they’re both immigrants. So growing up, learning about my identity and also feeling like, in many of the spaces I was in — because I was in many predominantly white spaces — I felt like I was the only one of my kind. I’m a Ghanaian American. A lot of my community was outside of the home, and it was more with the different communities that my parents were in. But I had to reclaim that for myself. I think growing up in a predominantly white area, trying to conform to what they thought I was versus what I knew I was — and combining the two communities that I feel shaped myself — that was definitely a big challenge for me. But as I grew up and started to reclaim different parts of myself that I loved and I knew made up the complexities of myself… that’s what kind of grew my confidence and made me feel like I could truly do anything in this world through my own power.

Tomi: That was so powerful. Thank you. And thank you so much for sharing that. What’s one piece of advice that you can leave our listeners with to help them in this transition from a teen to an adult?

Anonymous: I think the biggest thing that I’d probably tell people growing up and transitioning through that is that eventually you’re going to have to be by yourself. As much as you may not want to face that, and as much as other people around you are telling you that it’s not going to always be that way, you will have to be and navigate in spaces by yourself. So learning how to be alone and be okay with that, as well as building your own confidence in yourself, is definitely going to help you navigate those spaces a lot easier.

Tomi: Thank you to everyone who shared their stories and their insights today. These conversations are the heart of what we’re doing. We’re bringing diverse voices together to talk about the transition into adulthood and the mental health challenges that come with it. If you’re listening and want to be part of the conversation, find us at voxatl.org. Until next time, take care and keep the dialogue going.