Katerina B. TeenzTalk Peer Leader
1. What are you passionate about?
2. What have you learned from challenges or disappointments?
3. How do you relieve stress?
4. What is happiness?
1.) PASSION: Katerina's passion is mental health & battling the stigma around it. She feels people with mental health challenges are isolated from society, due to social norms which reject mental care. Her passion is to reach out to these individuals, many of whom are teens with anxiety, & educate them on their illness so they can seek treatment & improve their quality of life.
2.) GROWTH: Katerina talks about her years of isolation, before realizing that she suffers from social anxiety. After so many years of feeling let down, she found relief in knowing that she was not alone with this challenge. Knowing that others have been able to overcome their social anxiety, she became motivated to push herself beyond her natural tendencies. She rehearsed simple dialogue & moved forward despite her racing heart rate - determined to achieve her goal. "This was the most freedom I've had in my entire life."
3.) STRESS RELIEVERS:
- take a walk outside
- change your environment
- listen to a special playlist
- watch your favorite movie
4.) HAPPINESS: Katerina explains that everyone has different views & definitions of happiness. She says, "For me, it's spending an evening with friends with good food & good music". She also emphasizes that in Macedonia, happiness looks like a gathering of friends & family – singing songs, eating dinner, & celebrating life in general.
