{"id":2967,"date":"2026-06-29T21:44:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:44:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:44:37","slug":"how-she-medias-sxsw-co-lab-reframed-my-gen-z-anxieties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/?p=2967","title":{"rendered":"How SHE Media\u2019s SXSW Co-Lab Reframed my Gen-Z Anxieties"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\tAs a college student, academia has lately felt like a pressure cooker. Time and resources feel limited when they should feel abundant. Thinking about the future fills me with a sense of anxiety<\/a> when it should feel invigorating. What so many describe as the \u201cbest years of your life\u201d has instead become a period of intense uncertainty \u2014 and being around so many high achieving peers has only heightened this sense of doubt.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut recently, I got to step outside the sphere of campus and into an environment where I was one of the youngest people in the room, by attending the SHE Media Co-Lab event at SXSW<\/a>. And it was a culture shock, to say the least. Still, my feelings of inadequacy quickly dissipated as I listened to folks of a different generation discussing their unique struggles. It felt foolish to let my anxieties get the best of me when I was surrounded by a group who\u2019d already suffered through the rollercoaster ride of being a 20-something and came out alive. Not only had they survived, but they\u2019d lived to tell the audience their tale.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Stress,<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/p>\n

\tRelated story
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\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tWhy Only 36% of College Students Are Thriving \u2014 and How You Can Help Your Teen Beat the Odds\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\tOne speaker, best-selling author Kate Bowler<\/a>, mentioned how even though it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to let ourselves be vulnerable, happiness is more likely to come our way if we\u2019re willing to have a \u201cgreater honesty about the things that hold us down.\u201d In a culture obsessed with productivity and presenting our best self, suggesting that we put away our bravest faces is a revolutionary call to action. It\u2019s difficult to keep in mind that our struggles don\u2019t define us, but leaving the door open for connection in our most vulnerable times is the key to stumbling upon joy again.<\/p>\n

\n\tFlecks of inspiration kept coming at me. During the \u201cWinning Women\u201d panel, four-time Olympian Chaunte Lowe, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in the midst of her athletic career, discussed the importance of success stories from those facing any battle \u2014 whether physical, internal, or external. You don\u2019t have to be an Olympic contender for Lowe\u2019s message to resonate; I witnessed firsthand a wave of women across the room whose faces lit up as Lowe pulled an Olympic medal from her pocket. If she refused to surrender in a time when continuing felt impossible, shouldn\u2019t we do the same?<\/p>\n

\n\tMost importantly, there were moments at the conference that forced me to acknowledge perspectives outside of my own, especially when it came to the generation above me. During the \u201cHolding on, Letting Go\u201d panel, Kim Holderness and Gretchen Rubin discussed the \u201crebranding of the empty nest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019d never truly contemplated how my parents must have felt when I went off to college, as I\u2019ve become so consumed by my studies and social responsibilities that I often forget to check in on them and ensure everything\u2019s fine on their end. Being in a room of women who had already gone through the empty nest phase or are going through it right now enlightened me on how anxiety isn\u2019t exclusive to my generation. Our parents, after all, are simultaneously wondering if we\u2019re alright, even if their concern takes the form of late-night lurking on Life360.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the conference came to a close, I felt grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by a plethora of high-minded individuals who had forged their own paths personally and professionally. Instead of clinging to the version of myself that\u2019s eager to have everything figured out, the panelists helped me see that there can be comfort in the uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\n\tCaleb Morrow is an Economics and English major at UT Austin. His writing focuses on topics like popular culture, finance, and social phenomena. Outside of writing, he spends his free time reading, discovering new music, and playing volleyball.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a college student, academia has lately felt like a pressure cooker. Time and resources feel limited when they should feel abundant. Thinking about the future fills me with a sense of anxiety when it should feel invigorating. What so many describe as the \u201cbest years of your life\u201d has instead become a period of intense uncertainty \u2014 and being around so many high achieving peers has only heightened this sense of doubt. But recently, I got to step outside the sphere of campus and into an environment where I was one of the youngest people in the room, by attending the SHE Media Co-Lab event at SXSW. And it was a culture shock, to say the least. Still, my feelings of inadequacy quickly dissipated as I listened to folks of a different generation discussing their unique struggles. It felt foolish to let my anxieties get the best of me when I was surrounded by a group who\u2019d already suffered through the rollercoaster ride of being a 20-something and came out alive. Not only had they survived, but they\u2019d lived to tell the audience their tale. Related story Why Only 36% of College Students Are Thriving \u2014 and How You Can Help Your Teen Beat the Odds One speaker, best-selling author Kate Bowler, mentioned how even though it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to let ourselves be vulnerable, happiness is more likely to come our way if we\u2019re willing to have a \u201cgreater honesty about the things that hold us down.\u201d In a culture obsessed with productivity and presenting our best self, suggesting that we put away our bravest faces is a revolutionary call to action. It\u2019s difficult to keep in mind that our struggles don\u2019t define us, but leaving the door open for connection in our most vulnerable times is the key to stumbling upon joy again. Flecks of inspiration kept coming at me. During the \u201cWinning Women\u201d panel, four-time Olympian Chaunte Lowe, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in the midst of her athletic career, discussed the importance of success stories from those facing any battle \u2014 whether physical, internal, or external. You don\u2019t have to be an Olympic contender for Lowe\u2019s message to resonate; I witnessed firsthand a wave of women across the room whose faces lit up as Lowe pulled an Olympic medal from her pocket. If she refused to surrender in a time when continuing felt impossible, shouldn\u2019t we do the same? Most importantly, there were moments at the conference that forced me to acknowledge perspectives outside of my own, especially when it came to the generation above me. During the \u201cHolding on, Letting Go\u201d panel, Kim Holderness and Gretchen Rubin discussed the \u201crebranding of the empty nest.\u201d I\u2019d never truly contemplated how my parents must have felt when I went off to college, as I\u2019ve become so consumed by my studies and social responsibilities that I often forget to check in on them and ensure everything\u2019s fine on their end. Being in a room of women who had already gone through the empty nest phase or are going through it right now enlightened me on how anxiety isn\u2019t exclusive to my generation. Our parents, after all, are simultaneously wondering if we\u2019re alright, even if their concern takes the form of late-night lurking on Life360. As the conference came to a close, I felt grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by a plethora of high-minded individuals who had forged their own paths personally and professionally. Instead of clinging to the version of myself that\u2019s eager to have everything figured out, the panelists helped me see that there can be comfort in the uncertainty. Caleb Morrow is an Economics and English major at UT Austin. His writing focuses on topics like popular culture, finance, and social phenomena. Outside of writing, he spends his free time reading, discovering new music, and playing volleyball. Source link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-female-health-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}