TW for derealization and suicide mention
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RISD was worth it for the connections I made, but BOY. I was so stressed I experienced prolonged periods of derealization. I would have a breakdown every three months or so. Suicide ideation was...a thing, a couple times. https://twitter.com/javi_draws/status/1275458077966446592">https://twitter.com/javi_draw...

I& #39;ve been embarrassed to admit how bad things got for me, because talking about it still feels like admitting I& #39;m pathetic, or too weak to make it in the "real world." Everyone else seemed "fine." But uh. More and more people have come forward over time to admit they WEREN& #39;T fine

It& #39;s still hard for me to say, but I& #39;m getting closer to actually believing that I didn& #39;t deserve to have to struggle as much as I did to keep up with the workload. No art education is worth, like...wanting to die. RISD really made me feel hopeless for the future.

In my freshman year, I was shocked when a member of the faculty came forward and straight-up admitted that the reason they gave us so much homework was to "break us." They wanted to crush our old work habits so they could build us up from the ground up. Mental heath? Who& #39;s she?

In senior year I spoke to a professor who told me that they and other faculty members were pressured by the higher-ups to give as much homework as they did, which...explains a lot. The work culture needs to change across the board, here, all the way up the ladder.

Anyway...if you want to see some really fucked up stuff, here are the anonymous replies I got on my "Thoughts on RISD& #39;s work culture?" posters (trigger warning for suicide ideation, eating disorders, and self harm): https://risd-work-culture.tumblr.com/ ">https://risd-work-culture.tumblr.com/">...

I wish I could force everyone from the RISD administration to read the responses on that blue poster. Maybe then they& #39;d realize how serious the situation is.