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I had the pleasure of shadowing Fiona Brown, a Student Assistance Specialist (SAS) at Rock Ridge High School. As I am planning to work in the psychology field in the future, it was extremely meaningful to explore the role of a SAS on the United Mental Health Team.

Before beginning my Capstone, I can honestly say that I did not know Student Assistance Specialists existed. I would infer that most of my peers are also unaware of their presence, simply because it is not talked about enough. I learned a great deal about what their job entails and I believe it is imperative that students are aware of their presence in schools.. SAS’s are well-informed mental health resources, experts in substance abuse prevention and are confidential supports to students.

I completed three projects during this experience. First, I wrote an article about two middle schoolers who recently participated in the Step Up Loudoun competition to raise awareness of the Opioid crisis. I also made a virtual poster about healthy habits teenagers can practice during the summer to keep them away from substances. Finally, I helped create a presentation with recommendations to improve Advisory in high schools. I included what parts of Advisory are working well, what is not working well, surveyed peers for feedback, and developed ideas to change the culture surrounding advisory. I even had the amazing opportunity to share this feedback with Dr. Daniel Smith, the Chief of Staff for LCPS.

Working with my mentor and her colleagues as well as presenting to Dr. Smith has opened my eyes to professionalism and navigating a newfound independence. It was not as scary as I originally imagined. In fact, I felt comfortable from the very beginning. It was refreshing to be treated as an adult and have my ideas and voice valued in the community. When presenting my ideas for improving Advisory, the staff truly listened to my input. This taught me that my voice can make a difference and inspire others to act.

I am looking forward to the future, hopefully working as a psychiatrist, where I can hone these skills that I have learned. In fact, I am now inspired to work as a psychiatrist specializing in substance abuse cases. I will apply this introductory knowledge in my studies and I will be more prepared for the workplace after immersing myself in the professional environment of Student Assistance Specialists.

Written by Madison Mosely

“Capstone? What does that mean?” That was my initial reaction to a Senior Capstone Project. Donating a talent or finding a career interest, I have always thought of the project as a true step into the “adult world.” Even without a specific goal, I knew Capstone could be an opportunity to test myself in a larger world outside a classroom.

Then, I came across Student Assistance Services. Even though I do not plan on becoming a mental health specialist, I wanted to somehow be a part of this team. Although it was not visible to students, this team provides so many student mental health resources and has been supporting me and my peers all along. That awareness led me to approach Jennifer Evans, Supervisor of Student Assistance Services, for an opportunity to support this team.

My initial thoughts were not wrong. It truly was adulting. When I first came in, everyone asked, “So Sean. What do you want to do?” and I could not provide a good answer to that. With little understanding of the complexity of their jobs, my excitement soon changed to fear; my presence seemed like a burden. Initially, I thought with Loudoun County Public Schools operating for nearly 200 years, all systems for prevention and intervention would be in place. However, the team continues to improve and expand with new methods and solutions, needing more student feedback than ever for continuous progress.

Over the past four years, I have gotten so used to rubric-based assignments that I could not do anything without specific guidelines. The real world was nothing like that. I had to find what I wanted to do, how I wanted to approach the given task, and execute the task with my own method to satisfy the requested needs. It was like planning the lesson as a teacher, then completing the lesson on my own. With no tests and GPA to worry about, I tried a variety of formats to convey information in meetings, written reports, and slideshow presentations. Learning which method worked best for me to share my thoughts and ideas helped me take my first step beyond high school.

As I wrap up my Capstone project, I think of other departments within LCPS that are in need of student feedback. I now know the school system works as a team that needs a two-way communication bridge, and I hope students and parents are able to help with their school’s Unified Mental Health Team – it will benefit them back in some ways for sure.

Written by Sean Lim

When I was 15, I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa as well as orthorexia. What makes my experience special is that I was (and still am) dubbed the kid that “has it all together” because I have solid grades, I am involved in every social justice effort, and I am an athlete. Yet for as long as I can remember I have hated my appearance, and always wanted to change it. This resulted in me always being conscious of what I ate, and even though I was a “healthy” weight on the BMI scale*, I always received unsolicited medical advice from those around me. By the time I entered high school, I had already cut all the food groups I could while also flying under my parents’ radar. Looking back, what makes this so terrifying, is that everyone around me who was aware of my restriction didn’t think twice about it, due to how normalized caloric restriction is in our society. 

My first days of high school were frightening; they were filled with athletic tryouts, introductions to my peers, and a ton of homework. All these new experiences brought on new expectations as well as an insane amount of stress. Despite all the stress, I was able to juggle everything into creating a somewhat balanced first semester. Sure, my diet mainly consisted of carrots, fat-free yogurt, and apples, and I never allowed myself to consume more than a strict amount of calories per day. As my freshman year went on my balancing act soon began to crumble, I was falling asleep during class, my hair was starting to fall out, I was significantly limiting my calories each day and crying myself to sleep. But to everyone else it was all going well, I was in new social circles now that I was on the swim team, I was able to fundraise for our local abused womens’ shelter, and my grades were A’s. What makes eating disorders so tricky is that so many of us can maintain such great facades until it all tumbles down. As the year went on I never dropped enough weight, I had set an unrealistic goal weight for myself. My goal weight equated with happiness, validation, and acceptance from those around me. Yet, even when I obtained the goal weight it was never enough.

As the summer of freshman year rolled around my life was falling apart, even more, I was arguing with my parents about my health daily, I woke up at 6am each day to work out before swim team practice, and I could barely bring myself to go to get in a bathing suit. What held it all together was the screaming voice of my eating disorder….“If I couldn’t get out of bed, I was fat,” “If I hadn’t lost a pound, I was obese,” or “If I ate before 12pm, I was a pig.” The list goes on and on but the thing that was killing me was keeping me sane because even though my eating disorder was deteriorating my body, it was my way of coping with the world at that time and gave me a sense of control. The summer of freshman year turned into my sophomore year (or lack thereof), I was able to maintain all these moving parts until it was time for my annual physical. In some ways, I just wanted to scream, I needed help and when I stepped on the scale in the doctor's office, I could see in the nurse's eyes she knew something was wrong. Now, this is where ignorance comes in, I still couldn’t verbalize to any medical professional what I was doing to myself. So I gained back a little bit and was able to barely pass my annual physical. As the winter season of the swim team rolled around, my pain became apparent to my parents, I was sleeping all day, I wouldn’t eat anything, the bathroom was my second home, and none of my clothing fit. Now a few months later, my parents and doctors were able to figure out the game of my eating disorder, and I was sent to psychiatric treatment, but when you obtain such painful diagnoses every person around you seems to have a viewpoint. Teachers said “She had her life all together, why would she waste it on her weight”, adults said “I would never expect that from her”, friends said “I just thought you wanted to have a killer body” but eating disorder professionals said, “this isn’t surprising”.  

When I obtained treatment for my eating disorders I wasn’t suddenly cured. You see, everyone needs food and calories to survive. The one difference between an alcoholic and a person with anorexia  is that you can survive without alcohol but you cannot survive without food. The very thing that was killing me was something that I couldn't survive without. When you enter eating disorder treatment, you have to regain a body weight where your body  realizes that it is on the right track, but you are also able to allot food and nutrients to less essential things, like menstrual cycles, memory, vision, hair growth, etc. 

Eating disorder treatment isn’t easy, you feel trapped in a body that you don’t want, your life is suddenly monitored 24/7 and you have no privacy. The program I attended was specifically for people with eating disorders and I truly believe that in order to recover you need to attend a program that is aimed towards eating disorders (as they have both the nutrition and mental aspects). Eating disorder treatment is one of the most supportive environments I have ever been in, both clients and staff would sit down for a meal together in a safe environment. Talking through behaviors, trauma, experiences, etc was easy to process in this environment. As clients we were also exposed to alternative therapy methods, like equine, art therapy, yoga, acupuncture etc. The allowance to finding a passion while in treatment allowed for me to fill the void that my eating disorder had filled. Dealing with an active eating disorder voice wasn’t easy, but the fact that my dietician was able to reframe my thought process, educate me, and make sure I was eating what I needed was helpful.  Despite all the painful moments, there were hopeful ones too, you connect with people that understand you, you learn how to like food, you can participate in things you like.  

Eating disorders aren’t easy to overcome and recovery is the hardest thing I have ever done. There were many nights where I would contemplate why I was recovering, why I was living, and the pain I was putting others through. Questions swarmed my head on a daily basis, and many nights I thought there was no way to silence them. Eating disorders are the number one cause of mental illness related death---- and you might be thinking why? A person with anorexia  is living with a raging voice in their head and at the same time, everyone around them is forcing them to do something they don’t want to do. Studies have shown that individuals with anorexia  nervosa have the highest suicide completion rate and individuals with bulimia nervosa have the greatest number of suicide attempts. 

I am sharing my story today because I know I am not the only student who has fallen down the rabbit hole of anorexia. I am sharing my story to help raise awareness and make students, parents, teachers, staff, anyone aware of what an eating disorder does to a person. Because, as Americans we live in a society that perpetuates this image of “health,” everyone has a view on it and believes they can hand out medical advice. Some equate health with weight, diet, caloric intake, macros, fat content, exercise, etc. One thing should be certain, no person other than a qualified medical professional should affect a child's view on their health. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. 

Anonymous

*The BMI scale is the body mass index used to classify body composition considering a child's weight and height. Even though it has been used for years, it was developed by a mathematician modeled after men.

If you need additional information or resources, please contact Jennifer.Evans@lcps.org who will connect you with your school-based unified mental health team.