Nathaniel Brown '19 Recruiting Profile

All my life I’ve been absorbed by the thought of how people think and interact with each other. Interactions such as Parent-Child, neighbors, police-communities, and things of the sort. Growing up in Philadelphia, I’ve witnessed first hand how mental health can impact a community - black communities specifically. I’ve dug myself into this hole of confusion and wonder trying to figure why and how people do what they do.

Mental health as a whole matters to me because we, as minorities,  are a cursed people and that affects our everyday lives. As minorities our problems often get overlooked, mentally this does a lot of damage. With so much mortality, poverty, and inadequate education in my environment it is hard to be blind to such issues. Yet, I’ve watched my father, my best friends, and even my grandmother have emotional breakdowns because of the lack luster attention to these problems. I, being the social butterfly I was made to be, have obligations to help my people not be mentally, emotionally, and metaphysically oppressed.

Being apart of an urban community I’ve personally been mentally broken. I can reference a time where I was stopped by a police officer and questioned. “What are you doing out so late… Have you been apart of any criminalistic acts lately… Go on, go home.” This was traumatizing, during such racial and communal divide, I didn’t know how to respond. I went home later that night not knowing how I should feel. So, I cried, I was profiled in my own community and I’m not allowed to react without the fear of being murdered on my own street. Several weeks afterwards, I was on edge and scared of all law enforcement that passed by - it felt like I was suffering from anxiety. In my community we’ve been trained to not display emotion, so I was frantic and confused, without any outlet for help.

Things like this cause deeper than surface level problems that can damage the core of a person. Mental distress and illnesses are possible outcomes of occasions like this. Environments similar to mine almost everyday with no assistance.

Mental health and wellness has had a significant effect on my life and the black community as a whole. I’m going to be the change I want to see in the world, and this is my way of doing it. I’m pushing for wellness and prosperity in my community and the world overall.