Exploring the Causes of Loneliness

At a first glance, it can be difficult to tell the difference between wanting to be alone versus loneliness. When people spend a long time in the company of others, they may need some time by ourselves to recharge (this is a defining trait for introverts, but isn’t just limited to them). By being alone, people can do whatever they want without judgment, nor do they have to feel compelled to encourage and continue a conversation.

Loneliness, however, has a darker definition. Continue reading Exploring the Causes of Loneliness

How to be Safe While Watching “13 Reasons Why”

Trigger warning: suicide

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When the first season of the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” came out last year, it spurred more than half a million media stories, including coverage that attributed to the series a rise in suicides and suicidal ideation. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that internet searches about suicide increased after the first series’s release. JAMA also published a call for social responsibility and risk screening, prevention, and early intervention for suicide, which is now the second leading cause of death among young Americans.

Continue reading How to be Safe While Watching “13 Reasons Why”

Get the Most Out of Fall

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives.


Fall is a great time of year. I love being outside and not sweating profusely like I was this past summer. It is also a couple of months (depending on Mother Nature) of beautiful time where you do not have to worry about scraping ice off your windshield. Whether your favorite part of fall is the fancy pumpkin-themed drinks or the walks full of leaf crunching, we can agree it is a season worth celebrating.

Continue reading Get the Most Out of Fall

Making Opening a New Tab an Activity

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Realistically, people spend a lot of time on the internet. While part of that time is spent on the phone, people usually glued to our computers and laptops in some way. Whether that be for doing research for school, googling something for work, or just having a place to watch videos, taking quizzes, or talking to friends online, the internet is as present in everyday life as breathing, and it’s easy to end up spending hours on it.

Continue reading Making Opening a New Tab an Activity

The Right to Vote

Politics have become a part of everyday conversation, as naturally brought up as the weather or celebrity gossip. The is especially true for the latter, as politics are almost one in the same with celebrity news. After 2016, the amount of activism and speaking up from entertainers has significantly increased, especially so in the last few weeks. Continue reading The Right to Vote

How to Find a “Good” Therapist

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives.


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Want to find a therapist, and you’re not sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve tried a few therapists, and haven’t found the dynamic that you want? I have gone through the trial of finding a therapist that works well for me, and here are a few tips on how to decide if you’ve found the right one.

Continue reading How to Find a “Good” Therapist

Bullet Journaling Beyond Organization

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In the past few years, using a bullet journal in lieu of a planner has boomed in popularity, particularly among adolescents. This is partly due to social media sites such as Instagramtumblr, and YouTube (often found under the #bujo hashtag), where people can turn to for ideas and where to start, if not an aesthetic to hopefully achieve. They’re colorful, creative, and an opportunity for people to have their journal truly be a reflection of them. Continue reading Bullet Journaling Beyond Organization

The Ukulele

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives.

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In my previous blog, I mentioned how playing a musical instrument can put me in my happy place. I wrote about my first love, the violin when writing my post. While the violin is a beautiful instrument, it is difficult to learn, expensive to buy or rent an instrument, and one cannot sing along while playing. I became interested in the ukulele when my uncle gave me one as a gift, and ever since I started playing, I have found a lot of enjoyment in the ukulele. Continue reading The Ukulele

Listening to Ambient Noise

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Sitting in silence can be mortifying, but sometimes, listening to music isn’t that much of a help either – even though it can improve how we feel, sometimes it’s too loud and distracting. White noise can be the best options in this kind of situation; it’s an ever-present noise, but nowhere near loud to the point that it becomes overwhelming.

Continue reading Listening to Ambient Noise

The Art and Harm of Subtweeting

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The art of subtweeting isn’t a particularly difficult one. It involves posting something on social media (usually Twitter) that’s most likely negative, most likely about someone you know, but always indirect. No names are mentioned, no handles are included, and the post is passive-aggressive, rarely specific, but hints that someone has offended the original poster. Continue reading The Art and Harm of Subtweeting