BYOB: Bring Your Own Baggage

duffels! Welcome to the "Carry-On" series! These are 30 min episodes where each guest shares a story from their mental health journey; these are unstructured interviews (basically just a conversation), and the emphasis is on storytelling. These stories can be as serious or lighthearted as you want them to be - the main goal is to share a story of how you've carried on in life since...

hello my dear duffels. We're back! Today I am joined by a friend from HS, Enrique Unruh, to talk about toxic masculinity. We discuss how toxic masculinity has impacted his mental health, how he's seen toxic masculinity play out in his life, how he was able to create an identity amidst dealing with toxic masculinity, and more! Join us to also get advice on how to reduce the impact of toxi...

Happy Pride Month, duffels!! After an accidental hiatus, I am back with possibly one of the funniest people I've ever met, Ames Gersten. We discuss all things sexuality, and Ames tells us about their journey to discovering their sexuality and gender identity. In addition, they discuss the importance of pronouns, stereotypes associated with their sexuality, family/friend reactions to them comi...

Welcome back, duffels! It is my 21st birthday and there is no one else that I'd rather celebrate  with than with you all! Today, I am joined by a guest who has a voice that rivals Mariah Carey (especially when she's  singing delusionally at 11:30pm), my roommate, Jada Wright!!! We discuss her experience dealing with mental health as a Christian, the stigma against mental health in religi...

heyyy duffels! Today I am joined by an incredibly resilient guest (who wishes to remain anonymous) to talk about bipolar disorder. We talk about what this guest went through before being diagnosed with bipolar I disorder and how this manifests in her life, how bipolar disorder affects her relationships, misconceptions about bipolar disorder, and more. Join us to get advice for those struggling wit...

happy Monday, duffels! Today I am joined by the wonderful, Justin Laiti, to talk about stress and burnout. We talk about how stress impacts our lives in college, how to manage stress in college, our experiences with burnout, and more! Join us to learn about how we met (thanks Mr. Evans), some long and short term strategies for stress management and burnout, what the "Feedback Loop from Hell&q...

hello duffels! Today I am joined by Hoos Connected ICON, Olivia Hazelwood, to talk about introversion. We talk about the struggles of being introverts in discussion based classes, how being an introvert affects our social life, Hoos Connected, and more! Join us to also get some tips for communication and success if you're an introvert, but also how to help introverts if you are an extrovert.....

hiya, duffels! Today I am joined by a true dancing queen, Megan Lee, to talk about social anxiety. Since Megan is not formally diagnosed with social anxiety, this is more of a conversation between the two of us about social anxiety and my experiences with it. We cover how social anxiety impacts my life, external validation and social anxiety,  how college impacts social anxiety, and more! Tune in...

welcome back, duffels! Today I am joined by the insanely smart, Daniel Shapiro, to talk about crisis hotlines (in particular, Madison House's HELP Line). Daniel discusses why he decided to join HELP Line (HL), the most challenging part of being a crisis line call operator, what he wishes people knew about HL, and more! Tune in to also get some advice on how to call crisis hotlines and self-ca...

PART 2!!! In this episode I am joined by Faria Rehman, Kristen Shin, and Megan Lee to discuss how the model minority myth impacted our mental health, how eurocentric standards of beauty affected our self-image and esteem, how non-AAPI individuals can support their AAPI friends without placing an emotional burden on them, and again, lots more. Again, check out @bringyourownbaggage on Instagram for...

hey Duffels! Today's episode is a special one. I am joined by Cindy Li, Mavis Manaloto, Grace Kim, and Jamie Kang to discuss mental health in the AAPI community. We discuss how our families viewed mental health, unique struggles Asian American women face, common microaggressions we encounter and how this affects our mental health, and LOTS more. The advice portion of this podcast will be post...

what's good, duffels? Did you guys like that pun? Get it? Does anyone even read these? Anyways, today I am joined by outdoor/fishtank/cat/NOT TIK TOK enthusiast, Ben Goodson, to talk about the pressure to find your identity in college. We discuss why college students feel this pressure, how Ben is overcoming that, what aspects of his identity he's struggled with,  how social media plays...

heyyyy duffels! Today I am joined by the wonderful, Stephanie Rasinski, to talk about how to support a loved one with mental illness. Stephanie discusses what her friends and family did to support her after she was diagnosed with OCD, and we go into some actions that people can take to support an individual struggling with mental health, how to deal with negative reactions while talking to a loved...

hello, duffels! Today I am joined with field hockey star and Morgan's Message ambassador, Greer Gill, to talk about mental health as a student athlete. We talk about unique mental health struggles student athletes face, the stigma around mental health in the student athlete community, the impact COVID had on Greer's mental health/body image, and more! If you are an athlete struggling wit...

duffels! hey! Today I am joined with Comm QUEEN, Alice Opiyo, to talk about mental health in the BIPOC community. We cover what it's like going to a predominately White university, unique challenges Alice has faced as a Black woman and how this impacted her mental health, the stigma against mental illness in the BIPOC community and more. Tune in to also learn about what it's like to have...

hiya duffels! Today I am joined with my role model since 12th grade, Claire Hutcheson. If you can't tell by how LONG this episode is, Claire and I talk about a lot. We cover body neutrality, intuitive eating, body image in college, the longest advice portion ever, and more! Tune in to also hear about how Claire met Cory Booker, the role of 8D music in our friendship, and streaking the Lawn???...

ok, someone suggested that I shorten the BYOB listeners name from "duffel bags" to "duffels" which is so cute so we're sticking with that. ANYWAYS, hello everyone! Today I am joined with the vlog queen herself, Temi Akinola, to talk about discussing mental health with POC/immigrant parents. Temi talks to us about her experience in talking about mental health with her paren...

hi duffel bags! I kind of like that, and I don't think anyone reads these descriptions so for the time being I think the name is going to stick. Today I am joined by the amazing, Jada Smith, to talk about grief. Jada shares her experience with grief and we also go into some advice for those grieving the loss of a loved one + how to help a friend/family member that is grieving. Due to the pand...

*TW: sexual assault* hello duffel bags! I've decided that the BYOB group will be called duffel bags, so I hope you guys are ok with that name. JK. Anyways, today I am joined with the incredibly inspiring, Faria Rehman, to talk about PTSD and trauma. Faria talks to us about her experience with PTSD and we discuss coping skills for trauma survivors and advice for helping a loved one who struggl...

hello everyone! Today I am joined by a true ray of sunshine, Aayushma Bastola, to talk about loneliness. We talk about loneliness as it relates to college, but also how the pandemic has affected our feelings of loneliness.  Join us to also talk about pod politics, the toll COVID has taken on our relationships, and can Tik Tokkers please stay home??? Anyways... enjoy!

*TW: self-harm, suicidal thoughts, sex* hello friends! Today I am joined by the very artistic, Maya Kim, to talk about OCD. Maya talks to us about her own experience with OCD including the challenges she faces and common misconceptions people have about OCD. As always, we also give advice for people who have loved ones that struggle with OCD; even though we may not be directly impacted by a certai...

10 episodes of BYOB! For this special occasion I am joined by my sister, Kyra, to talk about imposter syndrome. Kyra vetoed my "Among Us" pun, but just know that I had one...I'm hip, ok!! Join us to talk about what imposter syndrome is and how to battle these (very untrue) beliefs. We also talk about why Kyra is BYOB's second celebrity guest, NASA (take a shot every time we say...

long time no see!!! after a short break, BYOB is BACK, baby!! Today I am joined by the hilarious, Thomas Hamilton, to talk about mental health from a male perspective. Everyone struggles with mental health (no matter what gender), and we're here to start a conversation about destroying stigmas that hold people back from sharing about their mental health struggles. Join us to talk about why me...

helloooo and welcome back to BYOB!! Today I am joined by future nurse, Raniyah Majied, to talk about comparison and jealousy in friendships. Join us to talk about the effects of constant comparison on one's mental health, how jealousy affects friendships, and advice on how to avoid comparison in your relationships. Tune in to see how Tik Tok dancing and Eurocentric standards of beauty tie int...

hey guys! Today I conduct the giggliest interview of all time (sorry not sorry) with my dear friend, Kristen Richbourg. We talk about the importance of sleep hygiene and how to practice good sleep hygiene techniques, and Kristen shares her experience with said techniques. Join us to talk about how Kristen and I met, why Kristen's family calls her "ol' red eye," and listen to so...