Students Promoting Eating Disorder Awareness and Knowledge at the George Washington University

Hannah Strohmeier and Laura Porter of SPEAK GW

Hosted by Hannah Strohmeier and Laura Porter of SPEAK GW
February 17, 2016

EDH: Welcome to today’s #EDHchat! We are excited to have you all with us! We would like to start by welcoming our special guests, Laura Porter, who will be tweeting as @LCPeez, and Hannah Strohmeirer, who will be tweeting as @SPEAK_GW. Special thanks to @SPEAK_GH for helping us make this twitter chat possible!

Laura is the former president of the SPEAK_GW organization, and Hannah is the current Vice President. Thank you for joining us today ladies!

It’s great to have you all here today! Let’s get started with some of our questions. Please tell us a little about yourself and your current role.

Laura: I’m Laura—a 24-year-old ENFP (if you’re into that), senior at The George Washington University and a person in long-term recovery. I became active in the eating disorder recovery and awareness community after taking three semesters off from school to go to treatment for my own mental health issues. That led me to an internship at Active Minds and to connect with the lovely staff at NEDA, where I began writing for Proud2Bme. I currently live in D.C. with my furry munchkin (or dog, if you prefer) who can out-snore anyone—his name is Bruce.

Hannah: My name is Hannah Strohmeier, and I’m a Sophomore at George Washington University, majoring in Public Health and minoring in Communications. I am Vice President of SPEAK GW, and I am also involved in my sorority and GW Athletics. I am passionate about SPEAK because I developed an eating disorder in high school. Though it was never formally diagnosed or treated, I have been in recovery for nearly 3 years. SPEAK helped me realize that I didn’t have to fit a certain mold to say I had an eating disorder, and that I am in recovery.

EDH: What is the SPEAK organization?

Hannah: SPEAK is Students Promoting Eating Disorder Awareness and Knowledge. We are an advocacy group on GW’s campus speaking up about eating

disorders, and providing resources for people on campus currently struggling with these issues. When describing SPEAK, I always like to say that while we are not
a “support group”, we are a supportive group. Everyone involved is very close, and we are there for each other during particularly rough times. However, our main focus is advocacy on mental health, eating disorders, and body image issues on GW’s campus!

EDH: How was SPEAK started?

Laura: Upon returning to school, I didn’t see the available resources to help students in my situation thrive, so I re-launched a student organization, SPEAK GW, to help students talk openly about eating disorders and provide resources to those struggling. SPEAK GW officially began in the spring of 2013, but unfortunately did not renew its organization status for the fall. In the fall of that same year, I realized the lack of resources available to students struggling with eating disorders as well as the absence of a community that openly discusses the issue.

After connecting with members of the administration, I re-launched SPEAK with the goal of spreading awareness, education and support to those struggling. At the time, I honestly never could have imagined the broad impact SPEAK has had both on the GW and larger eating disorder community.

EDH: What motivated you to become involved?

Laura: I was motivated by the experiences I had in treatment. That was the first time I’d ever been in an environment where people just spoke openly about what they were going through. When I came back to campus, I really missed that sense of community. I knew that I wasn’t the only one struggling, and I wanted to take my experience and make it into something positive–so that others could benefit. What keeps me coming back to the organization is seeing the way our younger members have been able to find a community, spread awareness and use their voices. To be able to see this ripple effect has been amazing.

Hannah: I became involved after seeing SPEAK at a Student Org Fair during my freshman orientation. I battled my eating disorder largely on my own. Seeing an entire organization devoted to talking about something I had kept in the dark for so long was a really powerful moment for me. I took one of the braided bracelets they made, and wore it proudly for the remainder of the summer as a reminder of what I had overcome, and the journey I was getting ready to start.

EDH: What is happening at SPEAK now and where do you see the future headed?

Laura: SPEAK continues to grow! It’s incredible to see more and more students become involved. We’re planning our third NEDA week this year, and SPEAK already has a solid presence on campus. It is my dream to see students from other campuses build SPEAK chapters or something similar at their school. It’s been such a positive force on campus and I want SPEAK to expand beyond our community.

Hannah: Right now, SPEAK is working on planning events on campus for NEDA week, as well as the NEDA walk in April! Right now, SPEAK focuses on a couple large events throughout the year. I’d like to see our organization grow to where we can have multiple small events on campus on top of the big ones. We are still a relatively small organization, I think that getting our name out on campus more frequently can help us grow, and help us reach more people who may need it.

EDH: What encouragement do you have for someone looking to impact their community in this way?

Laura: Believe and know that your story has power. Big events are fantastic and lots of fun, but having a large audience isn’t necessary to make a difference, an impact, in someone’s like. By sharing your story in a healthy way with someone, you’re spreading awareness that “hey, this is real.” Vulnerability breeds vulnerability, and your story can encourage others to speak.

Hannah: Reach out! The best way to make an impact on yours or someone else’s life is taking the first step. As someone who had never really talked about my eating disorder, I was really nervous coming to SPEAK. But I knew it was a conversation I wanted to have with my peers, so I came to a meeting and everything fell into place.

EDH: Thank you Laura and Hannah for sharing your insight and testimony about your wonderful organization, @Speak_GW!

If you or a loved one has been suffering, we hope this information brings you hope and encouragement. For more information about SPEAK_GW, visit their website at www.speakgw.com. Thank you to everyone who participated in our Twitter chat today! And thank you for the great insight, Laura and Hannah.

If you are in need of resources for an eating disorder, visit our website at Eating Disorder Hope.