When you hear about college,
it's often described as the time of your life.
Bliss, paradise...
- ...utopia.
But when you're in it,
sometimes all you feel is the stress,
...the pressure...
...and the loneliness.
What the hell's going on?
Hey.
Everything all right?
♪ Watch out, world, I'm grown now ♪
♪ I'm grown ♪
♪ Learn something new every day ♪
♪ I don't know, so I'm-a feel my way ♪
♪ Got the weight of the world on me ♪
♪ But no regrets, this is what I say ♪
♪ Watch out, world, I'm grown now ♪
- ♪ I'm grown ♪ - ♪ You can tell me ♪
♪ My heart beating so loud ♪
♪ Mama, look, I'm grown now ♪
♪ I'm grown ♪
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com
Yo, I'm about to Postmates this Jimmy John's.
You want in?
The halls were just flooded with EMTs
because they thought a student killed themselves.
H-How are you even thinking about food right now?
I'm sorry, okay?
Everybody copes with stressful situations differently,
and I'm just trying to process what happened to P.J.
So I ask you again... do you want a tasty sandwich or not?
Are you for real?
Get me a six-inch Perfect Italian.
Son, this P.J. shit is nuts.
Yo, thank God that his roommate saw this morbid-ass tweet
and called 911.
Can you imagine what would've happened to him?
They did a sweep of his room and said they found some pills.
He didn't take any.
But they did find some.
This whole situation is on me.
What?
Yeah, I have a confession to make, okay?
I saw P.J.'s tweet, but I scrolled past it
to watch a video of a monkey from Thailand attack a man.
Bro, this... this is isn't on you.
P.J.'s been tweeting about being depressed.
I feel like everybody is.
It's crazy to me. I don't get it.
So, like, since when has it ever been cool to be depressed?
Since all these rappers started confessing about their struggles
and everybody thought that shit was cool.
I swear, every time I'm on IG,
I'm seeing people post about their feelings and what meds they're on.
Yeah, but that's what I'm talking about...
people doing it just for the flex.
Like P.J.
He was all about that whole sad-boy wave.
But that doesn't mean the guy wasn't really suffering.
- You know what I mean? - Yeah, but it's impossible
to tell who's really doing it for the flex
or who's actually struggling.
Maybe, but this... this happened way too close to home.
So I'm going to make it my mission,
I'm gonna do whatever it takes
to find out if anyone who's living here
is really going through something
or they're just... you know, walking around being dramatic.
Oh, I'm sooo depressed!
My life is literally just over.
This dude hasn't left the house for 2 1/2 years.
Uh, did y'all not hear what I just said?
Uh, Zoey, we're watching a documentary
about an 800-pound man named Robert
who's fused to his couch.
So, uh...
- Big Rob's life is over. - You're being melodramatic.
- Yeah. - I'm not.
My major got declined.
Um... I didn't get into the School of Fashion, so...
Again, Big Rob can't see his own penis.
Why would they reject you?
I don't know.
Something about having a low GPA
and being on academic probation
and dropping some mandatory fashion class last semester.
- It's literally insane. - Come here.
- I know, this really sucks. - Mm-hmm.
But you're still gonna do the Fundie Run, right?
No!
God, I have no desire to run around half-naked
in a race that's supposed to celebrate declaring a major!
Which I don't have!
On the bright side, you don't need one to run.
- We did it when we were freshmen. - Mm-hmm.
Whupped everybody's ass, too.
And we're gonna do it again this year.
You guys do realize, though, it's just chaos in underwear?
- It's not, like, a real race. - Oh, baby girl,
when you've been training all year for the NCAA finals,
everything in life is a race.
If I wasn't wearing wedges, I would've had that ass.
I don't think y'all get it.
This isn't about some stupid race.
I mean, sure, maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic
by saying my life is over,
but my dream of majoring in fashion is.
I mean, Robert had dreams, too.
All right. Excuse me. Hey, guys!
Thank you so much for taking the time to be here.
I really do appreciate it. Let's get to it.
- I wanted to... - Yo. Yo.
What time does the shrimp truck come?
There's a slight delay on the shrimp truck.
In the meantime, I thought we could, you know,
- roundtable a bit, chop it up. - Wait. Wait, wait.
Like, how long are you talkin' for the shrimp, though?
Five minutes.
Like... Like a regular five or Black five?
There's no shrimp. I don't have shrimp.
I'm sorry. There never was a shrimp truck coming.
- I don't have the money for it. Sorry. - You got me
all [bleep] up, Aaron, okay?!
I understand your frustration, Rafael, I do,
but I gathered you guys here to discuss mental health.
That's what we need...
No, we need... Guys, come on.
- We need this. - I told you,
you can't promise Black people shrimp, bro.
Whatever. I decided that it was best to check in
after what happened to P.J. That's our friend.
I just want to see how everybody's feeling.
Hungry, [bleep]! Hungry!
Funny. Anyway...
The school gave me
this cool, little crisis prevention handbook,
and I just want to float a few questions by you.
Here we go. First question...
does anyone have a history of mental illness in their family?
No?
Gran-Daadi Vikash heard voices.
Okay.
Good. Uh, second question...
Do you ever feel despondent and don't know why?
Oh, so, I'm the only one that feels a little melancholy
when my head hits the pillow at night.
Great. Appreciate the participation.
Does anyone besides Vivek
ever find themselves anxious about the future?
I mean...
I feel anxious about the lack of shellfish in my future.
Yo, come on, man,
he's trying to do something, bro.
- Be serious. - Thank you.
O-Okay. Well, seriously,
if I had a problem,
I wouldn't sit around here, being sad and anxious.
I'm gonna either pray it out,
I'm-a sweat it out...
...or if that don't work, I'm gonna light up.
Okay, so...
Yeah, you must be living your best life,
'cause your hairline is... ♪ Traaaash ♪.
Okay, okay.
So, I understand that you guys think
that what I'm trying to do is whack,
but I'm really just trying to create an environment
so that we can have an open dialogue
about what's really going on in our lives, okay?
So please, bear with me.
Are any of you experiencing
a sense of isolation or depersonalization?
Um... I'm sorry.
I don't even know what that means.
It's like when you feel disconnected
or not like yourself.
You're, like, the passenger in your own mind.
Kind of like how, uh, Kid Cudi felt
when he made the "Pursuit of Happiness".
- You know that song? - Yeah. Okay, yeah.
In that case,
I've been hella depersonalized before.
Okay, good! This is great.
Communication, dialogue.
Now, has anyone ever felt like a rapper
whose name starts with Lil' or thought about,
I don't know, getting face tattoos?
Okay.
All right.
All right. Well...
I think we need to get these people some shrimp.
I just don't want to let anyone down.
There's so much pressure.
Between trying to keep my grades up
and missing my family,
I feel like sometimes I can't even shake the sadness.
I get that.
There's sometimes I wake up and I feel like I just, you know,
can't get out of bed.
Okay, so, when you guys feel like this,
how do you go about dealing with it?
- I don't. - You don't?
Wait, but you don't think you should, I don't know,
talk to a counselor or therapist just to,
- you know... - I did that.
Over at the health center.
It was a joke.
Like, a 2-week wait for a 15-minute appointment
with some old White lady who kept telling me
I look like some actress named "Jackée".
That's why I don't mess with it.
You just... ride it out.
Okay, but has it ever gotten so low
to where you feel like you... you couldn't ride it out?
Yo, this...
this doesn't seem like a flex, bro.
Here.
Zucchini bread is known to help with the sadness.
And eczema.
Hmm.
Oh, my God...
This is so good.
Is there anything you can't do?
- I haven't found it yet. - Mm.
Do you think this bread will help me figure out my major?
Zoey, you don't need a major to do fashion.
You barely need a major to do anything.
How many people do you know
that actually work in the fields they studied?
My mom. My dad.
Literally anyone who's been to college in my entire family.
Okay, fine. They're weird.
But real talk,
this whole major thing is just society's attempt to put us in a box.
Nice, coming from the guy
who got into the fashion program freshman year.
Of high school.
They recruited me. But...
don't make this about me, baby.
Hmm. Ding, ding, ding.
Think we found the one thing he's not good at...
pep talks.
The point is, people in fashion don't need a degree.
Even having one puts you miles ahead of the game.
So why don't you just take the time
to explore other stuff you have interest in?
Well, I mean, I've always been
kind of intrigued by psychology.
That's perfect.
You have a purple aura.
People love talking to you.
And honestly, you'll be purple at whatever you choose.
Damn it!
He is good at everything.
Okay. So...
You sure you don't want me to come back when you're...
when you're finished?
- Sorry about that. - That's all right.
It's a seven-day juice cleanse,
but I'm-a drink 'em all in one day.
Your boy figured out how to beat the system.
Why wait a whole week just to be healthy?
Pretty sure that's not how it works.
I'm pretty sure it is how it works.
Sorry.
I drank 17 juices.
- I'm both full and very, very hungry. - Mm.
It's so confusing.
Anyway, talk to me, brother.
Okay. Uh, well, I was...
I was talking to some residents at Hawkins,
and I just think that they could really use a therapist.
- Just to talk to, you know what I mean? - Yeah, yeah.
I'm sure everyone over at Hawkins
is going through a hard time right now.
Since P.J.'s incident,
we are taking the situation very, very seriously.
But it doesn't seem like it,
'cause I-I went to the health center earlier today,
and they said there's a huge waiting list
because there's only five counselors
- for the entire student population. - Ah.
- That's crazy. Yeah. - Yes.
That's exactly why we're bringing in temporary counselors
for the students to talk to.
What if these problems aren't temporary?
What if... It's... It's bad enough
that there's limited resources for everybody,
but there's even less for us.
Do you know there's not a single Black therapist in that health center?
Not one.
Yet we're the ones struggling
with the normal stresses of college,
uh, going to a predominantly White school,
and having to deal with the pressures
of being Black in America.
It's just... It's... It's a lot.
I get it, man.
I really do. I get it, man.
Great. Thank you. So... So you can help?
I would if I could.
Cal U just doesn't have the money in the budget.
Just doesn't have...
Right. Got it.
You know, they'll spend millions of dollars on a new arena
to make more millions off Black bodies,
but won't invest in our minds?
It's... baffling to me.
I'm sorry, Aaron.
I wish there was... more I could do.
Yeah, me too.
Hey, Freshman.
What's good?
Just deciding my future.
I'm thinking a psychology major,
possible astronomy minor.
You do know astronomy has nothing to do
with horoscopes, right?
I do now.
- Right. - Yay...
Wait, so, why are you looking for a new major?
I thought you were trying to get into the fashion school?
Well, I am, but, you know,
I don't have to major in it to do it.
Well, good.
Honestly, we need more Black psychologists, so good for you.
And at least psychology is a... a-a real major.
So is fashion.
Yeah, but it's not really helping people.
Mm, fashion is all about helping people.
Oh, come on, Zoey.
No disrespect, but helping people
is facilitating better mental health resources.
Not pairing your V-neck blouse
with some low-rise Hollister jeans.
- It's just... - Mm, pause.
- First of all, yuck. - Right?
And second of all,
it's not just about creating someone's look.
I mean, it's... it's honestly an extension
of who that person is.
An expression of identity,
of our wants, our... p-political views.
Political views.
Oh, my... Are you kidding? Think about it.
Like, the suffragettes,
uh, the Black Panthers,
and, you know what, I hate to say it,
- but, like, the KKK. - Mm.
They made statements with their outfits.
The KKK?
That was your closing argument?
My closing argument is,
fashion has always been a powerful political tool
used to communicate a message, positive or negative,
and that's a million percent a real thing for me.
Okay, so then, why...
Well, I ask again,
why are you majoring in psychology and not fashion?
Because I didn't get into the School of Fashion, so...
...now I'm at a dead end.
I get that.
I feel like I'm at a dead end, too, right now.
It's like, at the end of my road,
there's a big brick wall.
So, what's happening?
Cal U doesn't give a damn about Black mental health,
and I can't get them to do anything about it.
So...
you understand what I'm talking about.
We're just two people sitting here,
trying to save the world.
Hmm.
You think you're funny, huh?
You think I'm funny.
You're fine.
But, you know what?
Just because they're telling you "no"
doesn't mean you have to listen.
What you're doing is just way too important.
So screw Cal U.
Sometimes you just got to figure out a way
around the wall.
That is solid advice.
Not bad, Sophomore, not bad at all.
Mm, Sophomore?
What happened to Freshman?
Oh, you know, just...
testing something new.
Talking to Aaron helped me realize
that there was no reason I couldn't take my own advice.
And looking back on my styling experiences,
I've learned to connect with clients to help them communicate
what they want to say about themselves to the world.
But I've also learned how fashion can be used
to communicate a message on a larger scale.
And so, to help me better explore the intersection
of fashion and social movements in a comprehensive way,
I'm here to ask your permission to create my own major...
the Sociology of Fashion.
Hey, man.
Yo.
Um, I'm sorry. Why... Why are you here, exactly?
I heard what went down the other night.
Yeah, it was pretty rough.
You're gonna come in. All right, come in. Sit down.
- How you feeling, man? - I don't know.
A little numb, a little shocked.
It all kind of feels like... a bad dream.
I feel that.
I've, uh,... I've had some dark times.
- Really? - Really dark times.
Came over to bring you this.
It's, um... zucchini bread.
It's super fire. Took me two days to perfect it.
Well, thank you, man.
That's... real nice of you.
Try it, bro. Go on.
Taste it. Get in there.
All right.
- Damn. - Right?
- That's good. - I know.
When I was going through my rough moments,
someone taught me to always look for happiness
- in the little things. - Mm-hmm.
So, next time you find yourself
marinating in a hopeless, grim road,
just think about the little things.
Do you think that what happened the other night was me?
Uh, yeah.
They said some guy with weird hair at Hawkins tried to end it.
No, man! That was P.J.
And nobody tried to end anything.
- P.J.? - Yeah.
- That's fire. - P.J... P.J...
Ohh, wow, P.J.!
That makes so much more sense.
No wonder nobody in the group was talking about it.
Yeah.
I'm actually working on a little something
to help the whole situation.
Check her out.
Organizing a fundraiser to help get
better mental health support for the students here.
Wow. That's...
That's major.
- Yeah. - Well, you know,
if you need help with anything, you know,
a little, uh, gluten-free zucchini bread to auction off...
...hit me up.
So, I had no idea if my presentation
impressed the board
or just confused them into saying "yes".
But later that night, I was informed...
Your girl is officially declared.
The Sociology of Fashion!
Now I just got to find my crew
so we can go kill this Fundie Run.
That's right. Murder in a tutu!
As I ran with my girls, I realized
that, despite all the stress and pressure,
college really is bliss,
paradise, utopia.
And, sure, there were challenges.
But once you push past them,
it really is amazing.
- Oh! - Oh!
Until the next challenge inevitably presented itself.
Yeah, hi. Uh, we need... we need a campus medic immediately.
My friend just fell.
All right. Black minds, everybody.
Black minds, my man. Pay attention.
They don't want you to know.
Oh-ho, not on my watch!
I'm coming! Hold on!
Ohh.
You guys are about to make life, not end it.
Okay. Well, continue.
There's way too many candles in here, though.
It's a fire hazard. So just...
...keep that in mind.
All right. Thank you.
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com