We drove from Laramie straight to Bozeman on Tuesday night. Karen, our GPS, said we only had a few more minutes in the car. This was a major relief after such a long drive. We drove through downtown Bozeman, then through what we thought was the outer edge of town. Karen informed us we still had around 5.2 miles to go.

“Bozeman must be bigger than we thought” ran through our minds as we kept following Karen’s arrow. We began to question her as the buildings began thinning out. Side-by-side downtown restaurants and shops turned into spacious strips malls, which then turned into houses, and finally plots of land. Sidewalks turned to grass. Still more distance to go.

In .7 miles, turn right onto Baxter Lane.

As we approached the road, we noticed a barn, a thin paved road, and a few old vehicles in a yard. We don’t have our own picture, but here’s Google’s street view for the location.

This didn’t seem right. We checked the address. 1023 Baxter Lane. The road sign matched up with the direction. We guessed we’d go for it. After all, the website had said they were brand new–maybe Bozeman was just expanding and the Homewood Suites were just the new pioneers of the area.

As we drove down the street, certain there was nothing short of magic that could make a hotel appear where our GPS was leading us, we saw the remaining distance count down. 300 ft. 200 ft. 100 ft.

Arriving at destination on the left.

Liar. Here’s where Karen led us:

A quick call to the front desk produced a few laughs and a solution. Apparently we weren’t the first travelers to end up at that field. After some human-to-human directions, we arrived at the real Homewood Suites and got read for our Bozeman display the next morning.

As we pulled on to campus around 7:15AM, we were greeted by our largest group of volunteers yet. This Active Minds chapter is only two semesters old, but we could clearly see they’ve got their act together.

After a speedy (and windy) set-up, we were excited to see not only interactions with students, but with members from other organizations around the community. We got to spend time at the display with people like Matt Kuntz from NAMI Montana, lots of friendly volunteers from one of our sponsors, Cellular One, the KBZK news station, and various others.

As great as it is bringing the display to different chapters, it’s especially great when we find that the chapter has something extra planned. The Bozeman chapter had a 27 minute video called “The Truth About Suicide” to be shown the next day, followed by a panel of speakers. While we weren’t able to attend this event the next day due to our travels, we’re sure it was a helpful and informative event based on the interest we saw building for it throughout the display.

We talk about how involved the community is in a lot of our posts. It’s hard not to sound repetitive, but community is what makes this display so special. At the end of the day, a woman passing through campus and saw the display. She looked moved as she read through several stories before silently stopping at our resource table. Soon she shared that she had once attempted suicide when she was in high school and that she wished that there was something like this back then. She went on to express how she was really happy to see it now.  After spending some more time together talking about Active Minds, Send Silence Packing, and her own story, she took a moment to write a message in our journal:

“You may be the one person who sees. Even if you are afraid of being wrong, it’s better than being silent and being wrong about that.” –Heather

If you attended this display, please take a moment to complete a survey, thank you.

Danielle, Senior

Hello! My name is Danielle and I’m a member of Active Minds in Bozeman, Montana. We are a fairly new chapter that started last semester. I came to Active Minds to help start mental health conversation. Mental illness was in my family and it helps to talk about it. I want to hear others and promote resources that MSU has.

In response to Maggie McWilliams:

1. What will you do to promote Send Silence Packing on a small scale on your campus?

On a smaller scale, I want to keep the idea of SSP by being open about mental illness. Suicide is too often ignored, and hopefully through this big event, people will start talking. We are doing a movie and panel discussion tomorrow that will hopefully answer more questions and keep the essence of SSP going.

2. How did students respond to the display?

Students responded mostly positively to the display. There was a lot of shock at the numbers. Many commented on how powerful it was and we all received stories, memories and thank yous.

3. What is the distance from University of Wyoming to Bozeman in miles?

I have no idea the mileage! I’m going to have to ask.

Overall, this experience was one of the most rewarding  ones I’ve ever had. Thousands of students go to hear and see our message today! How exciting! I hope you are having an amazing week!

Danielle’s questions for the next chapter:

1. What were your reactions to Send Silence Packing?

2. What is a piece of advice you would give another Active Minds chapter?

3. What do you want to do as a profession?

Susie Lenssen, Senior and President

Hi! My name is Susie Lenssen, I am the president of Active Minds at Montana State University and a senior in Industrial Engineering. I have also been a competitive figure skater for 15 years.

In response to Sean Moran:

1. What is your favorite Active Minds event?

My favorite Active Minds event is Send Silence Packing (we have only been a chapter for two semesters).

2. What do you plan to do in the future?

In the future I hope this chapter continues to grow, host events and work with other clubs.

3. Where do you wish to go after college?

After college I am moving to Seattle to hopefully find an engineering job… or work as a private figure skating coach.

Susie’s questions for the next chapter:

1. How well has your campus received Send Silence Packing?

2. How and why did you get involved with Active Minds?

3. What events would you suggest to a new club? (How do you get more members?)

Katy Thomas, Senior

I heard from a friend about Active Minds and thought it was a wonderful cause. Montana has the second highest suicide rate among young people. We must help those with depression and mental illness!

In response to Mika Moriwaki:

1. What event was most successful in your chapter?

I would definitely say that Send Silence Packing was very influential and showed the whole campus who we are.

2. How do you feel right now?

I feel touched. I am so sad after reading all of the stories on the backpacks. It amazes me what a serious issue this is and how many people are affected by it.

3. What is your favorite musician?

My current favorite musician is the group Passion Pit. I love their music and it puts me in a good mood.

Katy’s questions for the next chapter:

1. How has today made you feel?

2. What’s the most inspirational story you’ve heard today?

3. What is your major and what do you intend to do with it?

We’ve been getting some pretty creative entries for our truck swag contest…

This guy’s name is Squirrel Steve Corncob and we are told he is a “true corn husker” who can also be a little “corny” at times. What a great outfit, jeans and all! Thanks, UNK!

We also received some great artwork on a beautiful piece of Wyoming rock. Say hello to Cowboy Joe! Thank you, University of Wyoming!

We’re looking forward to more truck swag! Can’t wait to meet you Montana State University

Maggie McWilliams, President

Hi, I am Maggie, the president of chapter 154 at the University of Wyoming. This is our second year as a chapter. We could not believe the participation in Send Silence Packing, from logging on to the Pepsi challenge and voting, to hosting the awareness campaign.

In response to Kristin Chamness:

1. What has been your most successful Active Minds recruitment tool?

To date, the most successful recruitment tool has been this campaign.

2. How do you generate excitement around a heavy topic?

To generate excitement we have found by focusing on life, “the blessings of it” and the support of the entire campus and counseling center on campus helps reduce the heaviness of the topic.

3. Have you experienced any resistance and how did you deal with it?

We had never experienced a negative reaction until this project. I think the number of students who showed up and volunteered created an attraction for extremists to protest.

Maggie’s questions for the Montana State University chapter:

1. What will you do to promote Send Silence Packing on a small scale on your campus?

2. How did students respond to the display?

3. Do you know what the distance from University of Wyoming to Bozeman in miles?

Sean Moran, Secretary

I joined because I find these issues to be important and have faced suicidal ideation in the past. I am a psychology and sociology major. I would like to be a social worker focusing on mental health and violence issues.

In response to Amanda Raffety:

1. What is your favorite pastime?

I love to listen to music.

2. What is your oddest phobia?

I have a phobia of church sanctuaries.

3. What is your favorite thing about Active Minds?

I love the positive and empathetic environment.

Sean’s questions for the Montana State University chapter:

1. What is your favorite Active Minds event?

2. What do you plan to do in the future?

3. Where do you wish to go after college?

Mika Moriwaki, Treasurer and Student Advisory Committee member of Active Minds, Inc.

My country, Japan, has a much higher suicide rate and huge stigma surrounding mental disorders. I was so surprised that the United States has such a unique organization and that Wyoming has a very high suicide rate. After I came to the United States many people helped me a lot. Now is the time that I can do something for people. Also, I would like to help make a positive difference in Japan. I would like to devote myself to the mental health field for the rest of my life. That is why I joined.

In response to Jordan Isaac:

1. What is your favorite summer activity?

Going back to my home and hanging out with my friends. It is precious in my life.

2. What’s your favorite band/artist and why?

Sorry, I do not know.

3. What’s your favorite movie?

Chicago! I love musical movies and this movie is the best!!

Mika’s questions for the Montana State University chapter:

1. What event was most successful in your chapter?

2. How do you feel right now?

3. What is your favorite musician?

It’s hard to explain the feeling that we have before pulling into the campus of a new school. As we started our journey, we had a lot of curiosity about how similar or how different each stop would be. As we put miles and miles behind us, we often joke about the restaurants at each exit:

“Oh, Cracker Barrel, McDonalds, KFC, and a Taco Bell! Look at all the local flavor.”

We wondered if the campuses would be the same way–the same place with different scenery. This didn’t turn out to be the case. Our visit to the University of Wyoming was our official half-way point. While we still have five more stops to go, we’ve learned for sure that every school certainly provides an incredibly unique experience.

The Send Silence Packing Truck arrives a UW

One common theme we’ve found is amazing local support for volunteers. We’re always pleasantly surprised to find many of the display attendees asking how they can help immediately after viewing the display. Between volunteers from outside organizations, attendees signing up for more information on getting involved with the local chapter, and engaging interactions with both students and faculty, the community around UW showed non-stop support for the project throughout the day.

Having strong support from the university counseling center helps turn the display from an awareness campaign to a way for local students and community members find relevant, deliverable, and actionable resources on the spot. Early in the afternoon a mother and her daughter attended the display. The mother explained that her daughter had been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. The two had been looking for a local psychologist for therapy, and the UW counseling center was able to provide helpful resources on the spot.

The passion that we saw from the local chapter is going to lead to an amazing future for their campus community. We were able to discuss similar events that they’ll be able to set up in the semesters to come, and we’re excited to see how those turn out. Between the enthusiasm, passion, and skills of the members we interacted with, we have nothing but the highest hopes for the things they’ll be able to accomplish at UW. Even the president of student affairs expressed how impressed she was with the organization and offered herself as a resource for the chapter.

We’ve learned that the display can evoke a wide range of emotions, and one common one is disbelief or “local denial.” It’s more easy and more comfortable to feel that things like suicide are happening everywhere else in the world, but not “here at home,” wherever that may be. We encountered several visitors throughout the day that didn’t feel that Wyoming could possibly share such a high statistic for suicides. After discussing this with some of the school’s counselors, we learned a sobering fact: Wyoming currently ranks 4th in the nation for suicides at nearly double the national rate. This disconnect between what many people think of the problem (“It can’t possibly be that bad here”) and the actual numbers is exactly why we’re doing this campaign. We’re hoping this new open dialogue will spread not only to those that were able to experience the delay, but instead continue to reach out, through conversation, to a wider and wider audience. One student approached us as we packed up the display who simply said, “thank you.” While we don’t know her story, we’re glad that she was affected so positively by the display.

If you attended this display, please take a moment to complete a survey, thank you.

Kristin Chamness, Advisor

The Active Minds chapter at UNK started three years ago. We have and continue to have amazing campus and community support. Two years ago we were talking in a meeting about how cool it would be for us to create a “Send Silence Packing” display- 15 backpacks in we discovered how tedious the job would be and we scratched the idea. We were so excited when we got the call that Send Silence Packing was coming to us.

Previous question from Megan Wilson:

How strong is mental health advocacy in the state of Nebraska and how would you go about making it stronger?

I am the chapter advisor and licensed mental health therapist/suicide prevention grant director at UNK. The state of Nebraska is farming state-wide coalitions and working on getting more help into schools to access for suicidal thinking and training people and students in how to talk with someone in crisis. The state is really starting to take notice. I have been actively involved in those “gatekeeper” trainings.

Questions for the next chapter:

1. What has been your most successful Active Minds recruitment tool?
2. How do you generate excitement around a heavy topic?
3. Have you experiences any resistance and how did you deal with it?

Amanda Raffety, Secretary

I am a psychology and social work major. I want to eventually work as a counselor for teenagers.

I joined Active Minds because my best friend has had many issues with depression. When we went away to college they got worse and I think if he had known where to get help, he would have been able to avoid drugs.

Previous questions from Beth McMillan:

If you could be one tree what would you be?

I would be an Ash tree because they are not a messy tree and reasonably disease resistant. They also grow quickly, are strong and can live in Nebraska.

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Sandwiches, because you don’t have to have the same kind everyday.

Questions for the next chapter:

1. What is your favorite pastime?
2. What is your oddest phobia?
3. What is your favorite thing about Active Minds?

Jordan Isaac

I joined because I’ve dealt with depression and ADHD my whole life. I’ve also dealt with people who have stopped hanging out with me when they found out about my conditions. I found the group surprisingly through my ex, Amanda. Now that I am a part of the group, I am so much happier having found people that accept me.

Previous question from Sebrina Campbell:

If you could be any Disney princess, who would you be?

Jasmine, because Mulan isn’t a princess and Jasmine has a tiger.

Which super power would you like to have if given the chance?

Rogue’s power to steal powers.

What’s your favorite part of being involved with Active Minds?

All of the fun people.

Questions for the next chapter:

1. What is your favorite summer activity?
2. What’s your favorite band/artist and why?
3. What’s your favorite movie?

The Active Minds chapter at the University of Nebraska at Kearney is a small but passionate group. As we pulled into campus, Amanda Raffety, the local chapter’s secretary, waved the Send Silence Packing truck in and led us to our spot. After a round of introductions, everyone began unloading the truck for the UNK display.

They were so excited to have the display come to their school. Their advisor, Kristin Chamness explained that they had brainstormed ways to host a display on their own, but that coming up with the 1,100 bags was more difficult than they thought it would be. This problem was solved with the tour. Within the hour, the 1,100 touring bags were laid out and ready for viewing.

There was great support for the chapter on campus as almost all of the volunteers were from outside groups.

We had the opportunity to speak with a lot of students passing by throughout the day and there was a common theme of raising an awareness for mental health. The interactions went as well as we could ever hope for—a large majority of those passing not only stopped to read the stories, but opened up a dialogue with their peers and the volunteers.

If you attended the display at Kearney, please take a moment to complete a survey, thank you.

Okay, so if you’ve been following along, you’ll have noticed that we started a little friendly competition: The Send Silence Packing 2010 Truck Swag Contest. It all started because Brandon’s lovely friend Mandy from Ann Arbor sent him off with this cute little guy. We thought Karen (our truck) could use some more friends. So we’ve asked the hosting chapters to get involved.

Our first entry comes from Saint Louis University. This is the Billiken, their beloved mascot.

I’ve asked Beth McMillan for a little more info on the Billiken and this is what she shared:

“He was voted one of the “coolest” mascots in America and he is truly one of a kind. The Billiken was designed by Florence Pretz (a St. Louis art teacher) in 1908 and it has been SLU’s mascot since around 1911. If you ask around SLU, everybody will have a different description/definition of the Billiken but over the years people have come to agree that he can be thought of as a good luck figure who represents things “as they ought to be.” Even though he is hard to describe, he is a beloved creature on our campus!” For more information, you can check out this link.

We have the amazing opportunity to meet so many of you, so we thought, why not have you meet each other? Saint Louis University was gracious enough to kick this off and we’ll pick it back up with Kearney. Here’s how it works: The person before you introduces themselves and then gets to ask the next round of questions. We’ll have the next school answer the questions and we’ll pass them on to the next chapter. Check back to view the answers to these questions after University of Nebraska at Kearney, it should be interesting!

Megan Wilson, Senior

The SLU Chapter of Active Minds was just started this year, 2009-2010, which is sadly my senior year. I was really excited to help get this group started thought, and I’m so excited that what our new chapter was able to be one of the send silence packing stops. I will be pursuing a Masters of Social Work at Tulane University next year and I’m really interested in mental health advocacy work. I’m so glad I was able to be involved with Active Minds this year! My question for Kearney is:

How strong is mental health advocacy in the state of Nebraska, and how would you go about making it stronger?

Beth McMillan, Senior

Publicity Chair and Board

I joined Active Minds to help foster a better environment for people to discuss their mental health issues and to understand that they are not alone. I am a Psychology and Spanish double major and I will be a bilingual teacher in Kansas City next year through Teach for America.

If you could be one tree what would you be?

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Sebrina Campbell, Freshman

Current Secretary of Active Minds and next year’s President

I joined active minds because I dealt with depression in middle school and I was able to overcome it. My best friends was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and dealt with a lot of problems with her mental health. I want to help those that have trouble with their mental health and try to get rid of the negative stigma associated with it.

If you could be any Disney princess, who would you be?

Which super power would you like to have if give the chance?

What’s your favorite part of being involved with Active Minds?

We arrived at Kerr Park in Oklahoma City to set up our first urban display. While it was a quiet day with less foot traffic than on a college campus, downtown provided an intimate setting for those passing by.

Many paused for a moment in their busy day to spend time with stories during their breaks. One woman approached our resource table for more information and expressed her gratitude for the display as she explained that she now has two sons in college. The display definitely reached people in new ways. Surrounded by tall buildings, people came down in groups to ask what was going on. We were even invited to the 12th floor of a building for a photo of our display from up above. It was really interesting to see the display from their point of view.

One of the most rewarding parts of our day was meeting the family of Megan Curran. Megan is one of our backpack stories and having her family visit the display was was deeply moving. We watched as they read the stories of others, and we were silent as they found the backpack of their own daughter.

“My Granddaughter, Megan Curran, took her own life just before Thanksgiving, 2007. She was a “sunshine girl,” always bringing joy to others. Who knew? Why didn’t we know??” — Jeanie Johnson

“My best friend, David Childs, took his life June 12, 2008, at 18 years old. It was very hard on me, but the fact that you guys are educating the public on this tour is very pleasing and I am ever grateful. I love what you are doing. To see the backpacks just makes suicide that much more of a reality for people and heightens their awareness. Thank you so much.” — Micah Sherman

If you attended this display, please take a moment to complete a survey, thank you.