Reasons to Stay Alive is a short story that follows the protagonist, Corinne Larson, and her experiences with depression and anxiety as well as self-harm and suicidal ideations. It is meant to act as an antithesis to media that romanticizes suicide, such as the television show 13 Reasons Why (2017), and instead glorify growth and healing. Specifically, it focuses on the importance of social support in the healing process. The story is separated into three different formats: narrative, letter, and free-verse poetry. It is prefaced by a poem titled ‘death by suicide’ that discusses the stigma around suicide and the reason why the phrase ‘commit suicide’ was changed to ‘death by suicide’. The story then starts with a letter written by Corinne to her future self during a time she was really struggling with depression and self-harm and suicidal ideations. It is a plea with her future self to tell her everything will be alright. The rest of the story is broken into four parts, each about a specific and important person in Corinne’s life. Each part starts off as a first person narrative from Corinne’s point of view and is a memorable experience she had with each person and ends with a short letter addressed directly to each person. The letters are a chance for Corinne to tell each person how important they are to her, how they made an impact in her life, and how they gave her a reason to stay alive. Between each part is a poem that deals with different themes relating to depression or anxiety. The story ends with a letter written by Corinne to her future self that goes back and addresses the first letter. It gives past Corinne some words of advice and tells her that her reasons to stay alive are the important people in life as well as herself and the person she will become.

The goal of this study was to gain insights from adults on the autism spectrum regarding their recommendations for improving the accessibility of stores and restaurants. Four adults who indicated that they had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or Asperger’s Syndrome volunteered to participate in a qualitative interview. The questions that participants were asked centered around their experiences in stores and restaurants, current accessibility guidelines, the impact of COVID-19 on their experiences, and their recommendations for increased accessibility. Recommendations fell into two main categories: changes to the environment and accommodations that could be provided. Participants suggested multiple ways to reduce their sensitivities to noise in stores and restaurants like lowering the music, creating a quiet hour, or providing noise cancelling headphones. Further efforts are needed to fully understand the issue of accessibility for autistic individuals.

This research investigates what aspects of certain college students' quarantine experience were contributing to specific changes in gender identity. For this project, a general survey was distributed, and multiple interviews were conducted with willing survey participants to gauge more in-depth information about this phenomenon. Through the survey portion of the research, I found that many Barrett students felt that their identity had changed over the course of the pandemic, and a unique subset of these students experienced a change in their gender identity. Interviews with these folks highlighted several mechanisms that fostered this phenomenon: first, that quarantine allowed them a time to introspect, second, that they were not being policed or scrutinized in public for their gender performance, and third, that this was taking place in a supportive physical and/or virtual environment. This new research provides insight into the specific experiences of nonbinary college students whose identity shifted over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring factors that can influence identity development. While this is a unique and niche situation, it illustrates changing trends in how younger generations view themselves and their gender identity.

While racial and ethnic socialization of transracial Korean international adoptees has been a growing topic in adoption literature, little research has looked at generational differences in parental racial and ethnic socialization of Korean adoptees. Using three semi-structured interviews with Korean international adoptees this paper analyzes how racial and ethnic socialization practices of white adoptive parents have changed over time. Through this analysis, we can better understand how Korean adoption policy should reflect the changing socialization practices as well as educational resources that different generations of adoptees want. Findings suggest that younger cohorts of adoptees are receiving more racial and ethnic socialization, however, interviewees still expressed the desire for greater educational resources on socialization practices for adoptive parents. Additionally, younger generations of adoptees may be less supportive of policy changes that end all Korean international adoption and have more positive feelings towards international adoption. Future research should consider the importance of tracing the historical connection between older Korean adoptees influence on policy changes like the Special Adoption Act. Overall, these interviews reveal a need for greater research on how Korean adoptees feelings towards adoption may shape policy within the adoption industry.