“Be the change you wish to see in the world” are the famous words of Indian philosopher Mahatma Gandhi. Megan Ewan, senior, is doing just that by being the change that she wishes to bring about.

“Last year, to get my Girl Scout Gold Award, I picked a project that would benefit my community,” Ewan said. “I started thinking about issues in our community and what interests me, and I realized there was not a lot of information out there about mental health awareness.

Lifeline is a project that Ewan has created and controlled this year to bring awareness to students, faculty, and the community about mental health and mental health issues.

 “It’s almost taboo to talk about mental health now,” Ewan said. “There are a lot of people who have been helping with Lifeline, but some wish to remain anonymous because of the negative stigma that mental health sometimes comes with.”

Coming up with such a meaningful project to address such a sensitive subject alone is worth recognition. Ewan’s ambition and devotion to mental health awareness is shown through her efforts to make a difference. Ewan recently filmed a compilation video of students from Lake Zurich High School. Each student in the video listed something that they struggle with or a mental health issue that they have had to overcome. The video was played during physical education classes where students were then encouraged to anonymously write down their own struggle or issue to be posted around the school. On a slip of paper, many students submitted a struggle which was then rewritten in different handwriting in order to be unrecognizable. Those struggles were then displayed in the showcases in the cafeteria.

“I have always had big dreams and am eager to make things happen. Creating Lifeline has made me realize that changing peoples’ attitudes is a slow process. This project has helped me realize that doing little things to make a difference is okay, too,” Ewan said.

Slowly, Ewan is continuing to build the program and learning that bringing about change sometimes requires baby steps.

“I started this program in order to help others with mental health issues,” Ewan said. “I has to start small, but I am building on the program every day. A small step is bigger than no step.”

Ewan defines Lifeline as a work in progress. Ewan hopes to provide help for those who have mental health issues and show everyone that no one is alone; there are many people who one can reach out to and who are willing to listen.

“What I really want people to take away from this is that you are never alone, everyone goes through things,” Ewan said. “I also want people to learn to be able to accept help. No, everything is not always going to be okay, but there is always going to be help out there for you.”