SHARE Communities
SHARE Communities are weekly student-led groups where peers with similar interests, concerns, or wellness goals can find community and social connection that goes beyond surface-level. They are places to step away from the grind and let down the mask, where mutual support, imperfection, and “real” conversations are the expectation rather than the exception. SHARE Communities were created to combat loneliness on campus by giving students a place to be themselves and feel at home, and where their resources and wisdom can directly benefit others going through similar struggles.
Any UT student may submit an interest form and attend any open SHARE Community meeting at any time of the semester. Submitting an interest form is not a commitment, just a way to get connected!
Fall 2024 SHARE Communities
AnxieTEA
- Tuesdays beginning 9/17
- 5-6 p.m.
- Main (MAI) 13 / UT Tower
- Ishan Baker, Christa Coe, Riley Jorgenson, Nick Overturf
Life is full of events that can bring up anxious thoughts and feelings, so come spill the tea with us! Although our experiences vary from person to person and day to day, lots of us can relate to feeling overwhelmed, perplexed, or even ashamed of our anxiety at times. You’re not alone! Connect with a cozy, non-clinical peer community each week for a (literal) cup of hot tea, conversation, mutual validation, and coping strategies! No formal diagnosis necessary.
Bevo's Broken Hearts Club
- Wednesdays beginning 9/18
- 6:15-7:15 p.m.
- RLP 1.110, Wagner Room (inside the Dies Center)
- Alexa Yaeger, Belle Hazzard, Tarunika Sasikumar & Robby Walia
Breakups – whether romantic, platonic, or familial – can be challenging and lonely. If you’re brokenhearted and feeling alone, we’re here to remind each other that we aren’t! In this peer-led community, we will vent about our broken hearts, encourage healing and self-reflection, and discover what healthy relationships can look like by building new ones together.
Black Sheep: Outsiders Together
- Tuesdays beginning 9/17
- 6-7 p.m.
- Longhorn Wellness Center, SSB 1.106
- Saniya Ali, Christa Coe & Kaili Doble
Sometimes we feel like we’re on the outside of our communities, be it family, friends, religious community, identity-based community, on campus, etc., leading to feelings of isolation and loneliness (and that’s okay!). Come to Black Sheep as we navigate these feelings, find ways to build confidence expressing ourselves in our communities, and learn to take up the space we deserve. Come join the Herd, we’d love to have you!
Connecting to Cultures
- Thursdays beginning 9/19
- 6-7 p.m.
- Wagner Room (inside the Dies Center), RLP 1.110
- Krish Bangur, Khanh Lai, Maumita Sadhukhan & JJ Song
Join a community of peers from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds exploring our experiences around belonging, family, identity, and mental health. Build relationships with others and yourself through open discussion, crafting and mindfulness activities in an environment of mutual appreciation and curiosity. Take a break from the grind and join us each week as we share stories, find joy in our unexpected similarities and differences, and give each other space to reconnect with and reflect on the cultural beliefs and values that have influenced who we are and who we want to become.
Crafting Conversations
- Wednesdays beginning 9/18
- 5:15-6:15 p.m.
- Longhorn Wellness Center, SSB 1.106
- Khanh Lai & Catherine Liu
College can often leave us feeling stressed, busy, and drained, so it’s important to take some time to take care of ourselves! Come join our peer-led community to engage in arts and crafts as a way to relax, self-reflect, and explore our goals, thoughts, and feelings. No experience required, supplies will be provided, and you can take your craft home with you. Everyone is welcome to connect and create with us!
Embracing LGBTQIA+ Narratives
- Tuesdays beginning 9/17
- 2:15-3:15 p.m.
- Jester (JES) A223A - Community Room in the COLA Well-Being Center
- Sydney Fuller & Evelin Ruiz Crisostomo
Finding a supportive queer / LGBTQIA+ community can be overwhelming, especially when you're busy with academics or still working through complex parts of your identity or personal history. Within Embracing LGBTQIA+ Narratives, we aim to celebrate, embrace, and delve into the many beautiful facets of queerness. Through artistic activities, intentional conversation, and storytelling, we hope to explore the value of queerness in our lives while making space to learn from members’ thoughts and experiences. We strive for a community centered around our unique journeys, and hope you’ll find empowerment, healing, and joy alongside us!
Far From the Forty
- Thursdays beginning 9/26
- 9-10 a.m. Eastern Time / 2-3 p.m. British Summer Time
- Virtual - Submit interest form to receive the Zoom link
- Essie Diaz & Andi Gutierrez
Are you participating in a study abroad or domestic study program this Fall? So are we! While exciting, immersing ourselves in a new environment can also lead to feelings of stress, homesickness, and isolation. Stay connected to the campus community while making new friends through our weekly virtual meetings! This peer-led, students-only space will allow everyone to freely share stories, challenges, joys, and support throughout our journeys around the country and the world! We will announce a meeting time in early September based on availability.
Navigating College with ADHD
- Mondays beginning 9/16
- 5:30-6:30 p.m.
- Student Services Building, SSB 3.232
- Sydney Fuller, Elyse Hopfe & Mary Riley
Join us for a peer-led community where we’ll harness our ADHD powers together in an informal, judgment-free environment. Each week we’ll unmask and hang out together (with plenty of fidgets!) to discuss recent challenges and wins, share ADHD hacks, destigmatize and reframe ADHD-related experiences, and hopefully become friends along the way. NO formal diagnosis required!
New Roots: Cultivating African Mental Wellness
- Wednesdays beginning 9/18
- 5-6 p.m.
- African American Culture Room, Texas Union 4.110
- Sandra Isiguzo & Olivia McMillian
Being open and vulnerable about our emotions and mental health can be daunting, especially coming from an African or African immigrant background where those talks are often considered taboo. This, coupled with being a college student, can lead to burnout, isolation, stress, and more. Join us if you're seeking a safe space where you can feel supported, empowered, and validated in your experiences and identity while gaining communication and self-care skills!
SHAREing Sunshine: Support for Tough Times
- Wednesdays starting 9/18
- 5-6 p.m.
- Jester (JES) A115 – First-Year Experience Office
- Chandni Bhagtaney & Ishwori Mukherjee
Have you been feeling the weight of sadness, grief, or depression? Join a cozy community of peers who can empathize and help each other and overcome the isolation, self-stigma, and inertia that often accompany tough times. Whether this is a new issue you’ve never talked about or something you’ve been processing in therapy for a while, this is a non-clinical space for us to open up without filters, share the weight, and find hope through exchanging stories, encouragement, and coping strategies. No diagnosis required.
Shy Longhorns Society
- Mondays starting 9/16
- 5:30-6:30 p.m.
- Longhorn Wellness Center, SSB 1.106
- Harsha Ketavarapu & Evelin Ruiz Crisostomo
Are you shy, introverted, socially anxious? All of the above? No worries. At a campus as big as UT, it can be difficult to be shy and make meaningful connections/friendships. At the Shy Longhorns Society, we come together to create a community built upon support and validation for the struggles of being socially anxious/shy at UT. We remind each other that we are not alone and come up with ways to overcome our difficulties.
Transfer and First-Gen Bevos
- Thursdays beginning 9/19
- 5-6 p.m.
- Main Building (MAI) 13
- Erin Lamas, Nick Overturf & Michelle Veneros
Discover your weekly home-away-from-home in our cozy peer-led space where first-generation and transfer students gather to share, support, and thrive! Whether you're navigating uncharted academic territory, worrying about being “behind” your peers, feeling lost (or found!) in a new city or campus culture, feeling homesick, or grappling with the internal and external pressures of being first-gen, you’re not alone! Come relax, vent your frustrations, and find mutual solidarity, friendship, and encouragement with people who get it.
Walkie Talkies – Weekly Walking Group
- Fridays beginning 9/22
- 4:30-6 p.m.
- Meet at Turtle Pond lawn, routes vary
- Led by two SHARE Support Specialists on a weekly rotation
Do your goals this semester include going outside more often, moving your body, being more mindful or present, or spending focused time with people away from technology and other distractions? Here’s your opportunity to do all of the above! Meet new friends and destress from the week with a fun, low-intensity walk in or around campus while discussing thought-provoking questions around a specific topic. Routes and topics change each week; fill out an interest form to receive updates!
Please note that all SHARE Communities are student-facilitated and non-clinical, and are therefore not a replacement for therapy. Conversations with SHARE Support Specialists are private except in specific circumstances. If members ever need outside professional assistance, they will make every effort to help them connect to resources and empower them with information and options.
All SHARE Community topics are developed and facilitated by trained peer SHARE Support Specialists based on their own lived experiences and interests. SHARE Community facilitation is one of the course requirements for HED 178E and HED 178F. Staff and faculty do NOT attend or observe SHARE Communities, but do provide continuous support, resources, and consultation for the facilitators throughout their time as Specialists.
Don’t see a SHARE Community topic that interests you?
Check out the list of clinician-led CMHC Groups offered this Fall on their website or email us a suggestion!
Want to lead your own SHARE Community?
We recruit new students to get trained to be SHARE Support Specialists every Fall. The application for the Spring 2025 cohort opens on October 1st, 2024!
See our Work With Us page for more information about this unique opportunity. Email longhornshareproject@utexas.edu if you’d like to be added to our email list, and follow @healthyhorns on social media for more updates!