“I wish that someone told me that it’s totally OK not to feel comfortable in your own skin,” says Serena Shapero.Shapero, 27, is the social media strategist and health educator for If I Knew, a Jewish Community Services of Baltimore initiative that utilizes a multimedia approach to discussing issues that impact the well-being, self-image and professional and personal lives of people in their 20s and 30s.
Shapero’s sentiment is the premise for a program that emphasizes and teaches self-awareness and provides prevention education to Jewish millennials.
In today’s hyper-connected, digital culture, mindfulness is a quality that many young adults need to develop, says Shapero. From 9/11 and the war on terror to the Great Recession, the millennial generation experienced tremendous challenges at an early age.
Processing those experiences remains a challenge for today’s young adults, she says.
“Millennials were raised in a fearful culture,” says Shapero. “There is a real struggle with the unknown.”
Finding and keeping a job or maintaining healthy relationships is stressful enough, she says. But with the omnipresence of social media influencing culture, attitudes, values and behavior patterns, young people today experience unprecedented mental and physical stress.
Often, this personal turmoil leads to risky behaviors such as substance abuse, unprotected sex or self-harm.
“Millennials don’t know what it means to be gentle with themselves,” says Shapero. “Learning how to parent yourself is part of the process of being in your 20s.”
For that reason, If I Knew emerged in 2009 to help young adults navigate the unique stressors of millennial life.
Through a mix of digital content and in-person programming, If I Knew established a healthy support network that validates individual voices, combats threatening situations with healthy and preventative measures and provides a respite from the relentless onslaught of media stimuli.
The issue facing today’s young adults is one of communication, says Shapero. Mainstream media depicts millennials as the “selfie” generation, so it’s surprising that many struggle to speak openly about their problems and emotions.
However, in a culture that emphasizes social validation, Shapero observes that many young adults carefully curate their digital personas to publish their “best self” on social media.
“The more honest young adults can be in their actual relationships, the more people can connect to these issues in a universal way,” Shapero says.
If I Knew’s digital approach gives young adults the outlet to share their fears and problems, she says, thereby connecting them to an entire network of individuals who have shared experiences.
Between their active social media following and their robust content library on personal issues, If I Knew’s strategy is driven by one central question: what does it mean to be a young adult in 2016?
If I Knew explores that question through “The Big Picture,” a podcast series that focuses on themes such as failure, courage or feeling at home within oneself.
Similarly, “The Quarterlife Crisis,” a podcast recorded in coffee shops across the Baltimore area, features snippets of millennial life through intimate and genuine conversations about the struggles faced by young adults.
Coming up in November, JCS and If I Knew are partnering with Beth El Congregation and Hadassah of Greater Baltimore in showing “The Illusionists,” the highly acclaimed expose on media marketing of body insecurity to maximize profits at the expense of our emotional health and sense of well-being.
Elena Rossini, the film’s internationally recognized director and producer, returns to Baltimore and, together with If I Knew, will be launching “The Realist,” an online exhibition on the theme of body image that features photographs and statements about genuine beauty of 35 Towson University and Goucher College students.
“In-person programming is a huge part of what we do in prevention education,” says Shapero. “We’re able to take the pulse of the Baltimore community through these programs.”
Shapero said the core of If I Knew’s message encourages young adults to realize they have a real choice in how they perceive their circumstances and live their lives.
“[Young adults] have the independence to create their own path,” says Shapero.
For more information about If I Knew, visit ifIknew.org or facebook.com/ifiknew.
Brandon Chiat is a Baltimore-based freelance writer.
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