Trae

I’ve been a fan of Demetrius from Vine, of course, but I remember my sophomore year scrolling through Instagram and a picture of the OG grey hoodie popped up. Everything about the message really brought emotions out and matched emotions I had been feeling at the time.

When I discovered the brand in 2017 I remember the tan hoodie dropping around my birthday that year, and my mom ended up copping it for me. Since then I’ve been copping hoodies for me and for my friends.

To describe my journey with my mental health, I would say I had a strong feeling of being lost and honestly felt not enough for a good while, but around my junior year I met some lifelong friends that became family and I think being able to lean on them and others as family had really helped me feel great and continue to do great in my career. At times I fell like I’m not great or I’m falling I feel like I can look in my family for motivation that improves my thoughts, without some of them I honestly don’t know where my mind would be.

You matter University sweats are for sure my favorites, but the whole you matter university movement is truly amazing. You matter has always felt like warm hug that included the community, but I remember around the time You Matter University came out I found the discord which is like a whole community for me that I always feel safe in. 

When facing some tough times in life, I recently started meditating, but even before that I feel I would just put on some music and try to let the bad emotions leave me. I really just have a strong will to try and not let negative energy stay around me or fuel my decisions because I’ve made those mistakes before. Instead I acknowledge what’s happening what I’m feeling and try to move forward.

Honestly some advice that helps me is understanding that it’s okay to feel emotion, as long as we get up at some point. Anytime something hurts me I let my emotions go, whether that be a cry in private or a scream in the middle of an empty space. I would advise everyone to feel whatever the emotion is and give themselves time to heal before moving forward, but eventually we have to move forward.