Dear Emma, I’m writing this aged 18, preparing to sit the Leaving Cert, and completely unsure of what will happen next – and I want you to know that’s okay! Since 12 or 13, you’ve struggled with your mental health. Since then you’ve worked with 2 different counsellors, spoken *honestly* to your doctor (which was
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For Pride Month, I spoke to my twin sister, Katie, about her experiences as a lesbian in Ireland (the conversation has been edited a bit for length). We spoke about being gay in a suburban setting, LGBT youth groups, and Pride. Read our conversation below: Do you want to tell the Shona readers a little
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When you are just becoming a teenager you think you know everything and understand people but now that I’m twenty-two and I look back, I just think about how I didn’t know anything. I remember it as a time without big responsibility but everything counted back then. I was still only learning how people work
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My name is Raevynna and today I’d like to share with you what Pride means to me. Pride month can mean a lot of different things to different people, after all, each person experiences and interprets Pride in their own unique way. For some, Pride is pretty self-explanatory, it’s about being unashamed and unapologetic of
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Here at Shona, we are all about representing girls, women, and non-binary people from all backgrounds, but we especially love when we get to meet someone who is stepping outside of what is often considered “the norm”. So today we would like to introduce you to Chloe! Chloe is a 25-year-old woman who drives Class
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Dear Tara, If I am being honest, writing you this letter has been quite difficult for me. It’s hard for me to think back on the things that I know you are going through. In some ways, I wish I could travel back and tell you everything you need to know to get through this
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We’re generally not into labels because everyone is different and unique. We shouldn’t need to find a box that we fit neatly inside so that everyone knows and understands us. As a society we’re changing rapidly, trying to find new ways to respect and protect each other. And that’s a good thing. When it comes
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Dear younger Mikaela, Slow down. Relax. Everything always works out in the end. There’s no need to be constantly worrying about what the future holds. Live in the present because the next few years are some of your best. Even if you don’t realize it! The leaving cert was never as important as you thought
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Oh no sweetie, we’re not talking about the bird kind of thrush, the other kind! Most women and girls will suffer from Thrush at some stage and usually its starts with a rather awkward itch. Luckily for us, we’ve spoken to our medical professional friends and asked them to explain it in full, and tell
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Dear Aoife, I know you’re probably stressed out right now. That seems to be your default state – stressed about school, stressed about friends, stressed about the future. I get it. But try not to worry too much. School is important, and good grades are important. But they’re not more important than your mental health.
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Conversations…… uuuurgh. When it comes to actually talking to other humans in real life, most of us would rather stick needles in our eyeballs. But having decent chat game is a really important skill for getting ahead in life. Being able to really engage with others is vital when it comes to getting jobs, (and
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We’re all just out here trying to be our best selves, figuring it all out, searching for answers; What do I want to do? What course should I apply for? What nice things do I want? Well. We’ve been thinking a LOT about how we approach life’s big questions and here’s what we’ve come up
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We don’t know about you, but our phones are jampacked with photos, social media apps, and photo editing apps. Honestly, we think if we take one more photo of our breakfast or post another picture of our dog, our phones might spontaneously combust. But hold on to your knickers, because we have another app for
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How long do we spend looking at our boobaloobas in the shower and wondering if they are normal? (Spoiler alert, of course they are?) We’ve reached out to some of our besties (look at us having doctor friends) and here is some info we have gathered from our experts… Boobs, jugs, knockers, tits, mammary glands-
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Dear Shannon, You’re 16 and I’m writing to you to give you a heads up. There is a rough few years ahead. Being different is nothing to be ashamed of, but unfortunately, you will learn this the hard way. Soon you will be mocked, taunted, pushed, and shoved. A feeling of dread hangs over you
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Having time off from school is usually amazing! But over the past few summers, we’ve missed out on so much, we’re thirsty for new opportunities to meet new people, try new things, and celebrate who we are as young women. How about you? For the third year, The Shona Project is offering the girls of
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Here at Shona, we are all about representing girls, women, and non-binary people from all backgrounds, but we especially love when we get to meet someone who is stepping outside of what the world considers “the norm”. So today we would like to introduce you to Caroline! Caroline is a HGV Technician who completed her
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Our friends at Active*Consent recently launched a new resource so we can all learn about consent, and the team wrote an article, just for our Shona Community, to fill us in! So read on, every day is a learning day!.. Consent culture is becoming a fast reality in Ireland, and to help develop it even
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