While losing a loved one is never easy, it can present a particular set of challenges to college students who must learn to cope with their grief while facing social and academic pressures.
HEART, which stands for Helping Elon Actively Remember Together, is a student-run organization that aims to provide students with support during times of tragedy and encourages them to find positive outlets for their grief.
[quote]HEART is a lot about trying to make a positive thing come from something negative. — Amanda Maddalone, president of HEART[/quote]
“(HEART) places an emphasis on service, and on the things you can do to honor your family members or friends, or whomever you’ve lost,” said senior Kristin Greene.
Greene discovered HEART during her junior year at Elon after having lost her mother. Finding support from the organization helped Greene to feel less alone during an emotional time, she said.
Additionally, HEART connected Greene with others who understood the difficulties of living with grief on a college campus.
“When something like that happens, you don’t want to go out and go to a party, or go out to eat with your friends,” Greene said. “You feel isolated, but when you’re around other people who understand that, it makes a world of difference.”
This semester, Greene has focused her senior project for Civic Engagement Scholars on raising awareness for HEART on Elon’s campus.
Because HEART was founded only three years ago, many students do not know that HEART is available as a resource, Greene said.
Members of the organization have used tables in Moseley and at the organization fair as well as student and social media to get the word out about HEART.
Still, attracting members is often difficult because of the discomfort many students face when opening up to people following the loss of a loved one, Greene said.
“When you’re in that kind of situation, (the loss) becomes a taboo subject,” Greene said. “When you don’t talk about it, and you don’t bring it up to people, you don’t learn what resources are available to you.”
HEART meetings are held every Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Moseley 215 and are typically split into two parts. The first part of the meeting is used to generate ideas for service projects the organization can become involved with.
“Even if a student isn’t ready to talk, they can go to the first half of the meeting and participate in service projects that provide an outlet for their emotions, without them necessarily having to (vocalize) all their emotions,” Greene said.
In the past, service projects have included fundraisers to raise money to buy Christmas presents for local families and volunteering with children at the University of North Carolina hospital.
“One of the goals of (HEART) is just to feel good about what you do, and help out other people who might be experiencing difficult times,” said senior Amanda Maddalone, president of HEART.
While counseling is encouraged for those wishing to meet with a professional, there is a benefit to having a conversation with people who can relate to your experiences, according to Maddalone.
“HEART is a lot about trying to make a positive thing come from something negative.” Maddalone said. “You can’t press the rewind button so you might as well try to make something positive happen.”