During the Fall intersession, members of the National Honor Society (NHS) pledged to be “Stigma Free” at the annual National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) walk.

The juniors and seniors volunteered at the walk to fulfill a minimum of five outreach service hours, a requirement for all NHS members in order to maintain a place in the society.

The students were in charge of setting up chairs, decorating tents, placing and removing trash bags and facilitating children’s games.  

Junior Katherine Christian, who had many memorable moments while running the Tic Tac Toe game, believes she had the most fun interacting with others.

 “I most enjoyed seeing all the people, mostly children, stop by the booth and play,” Christian said. “I love seeing happy people, and I got to see how many people were out supporting the cause.”

The NAMI Walk was created to be an extension of the organization’s mission, which is to “offer a compassionate place to turn for the millions of Americans living with mental illness.”

Christian is also a firm supporter of the organization’s purpose, which added more to her experience at the event.

“Mental health is extremely important but not discussed in the right way,” she said. “People use the terms ‘crazy,’ ‘depressed’ and ‘retarded’ so casually; it makes me sick. We spread awareness of different types of cancer and don’t make jokes about it, but somehow it’s okay to say that about anxiety and autism. There needs to be a lot more help and positivity about mental health and a lot less stigma.”

The NAMI Walk took place on Oct. 8 at Honolulu Hale Civic Grounds. The event was the second outreach project NHS members participated in this year.