Exec of Fall 2026
If you're reading this, your summer story matters.
Welcome back to Chapel Hill! As we transition from the freedom of summer to the familiar rhythm of the school year, our executive team wanted to take a moment to check in. While summer is often painted as a time of relaxation, it can also be a season of intense growth, isolation, or unexpected challenges. Our team spent our summer in different parts of the world, but we each found ourselves needing a moment to pause and check in on our mental health.
If you’re reading this, we want you to know that checking in on yourself is not just a summer task, it is a lifelong practice.
Tatum Murr, Co-President
If you’re reading this, you are allowed to feel overwhelmed, even when you’re living a dream.
This summer, I lived in Barcelona, working in two private hospitals. On paper, it was everything I wanted. An incredible city, a fast-paced medical environment, and a chance to learn in a completely new healthcare system. I was surrounded by experiences I knew I was lucky to have, which almost made it harder to admit when I was struggling. I felt like I should be enjoying every second of it. But the reality often felt different. Between the language barrier, the weight of the cases I saw each day, and the feeling of being thousands of miles away from my support system, I hit a wall.
I remember sitting on the train on the way home from the hospital one afternoon, feeling completely drained. I realized that I could not “work” my way out of burnout. For a while, I had treated exhaustion like something I just needed to push through. I thought that if I kept showing up, stayed busy, and reminded myself how grateful I was to be there, eventually the feeling would go away. Instead, I realized that being grateful for an opportunity and struggling within it can exist at the same time. Having an experience you once dreamed about does not mean you have to feel happy every moment you are living it.
I had to check in with myself instead of constantly moving on to the next thing. I started prioritizing small moments of solitude, finding a quiet cafe where no one knew my name, walking around the city without somewhere I needed to be, or simply giving myself a moment to process the emotional weight of the day. Those moments felt insignificant at first, but they slowly became some of the most important parts of my routine. They reminded me that taking care of myself did not mean I was taking the experience for granted.
The work was incredibly demanding. Processing intense patient cases in the ICU and witnessing the heartbreak of parents in the NICU was an emotional challenge I had not prepared for. I went into the summer focused on everything I wanted to learn medically, but I did not think as much about what it would feel like emotionally to witness people experiencing some of the hardest moments of their lives. There were days when I carried those experiences home with me long after I left the hospital. I learned that caring deeply about other people can be meaningful while also being exhausting, and that acknowledging that emotional weight does not make you weak or less capable.
More than anything, this summer changed the way I think about burnout. I used to associate burnout with doing too much or not being able to handle something. Now, I understand that sometimes it happens precisely because you care so much about what you are doing. It can happen when you are pushing yourself toward something you love, something you worked hard for, or something you feel incredibly lucky to experience. Recognizing that helped me stop feeling guilty for needing space to recharge.
Coming back to UNC, I want to carry that lesson with me. College can make it incredibly easy to measure our lives by how much we accomplish: our grades, internships, leadership positions, research, friendships, and whatever comes next. Sometimes we become so focused on making the most of every opportunity that we forget to ask ourselves how we are actually doing within all of it.
I learned that my mental health doesn’t take a vacation just because I’m in a beautiful place. It requires the same attention in a hospital in Spain as it does in a library at UNC. So, if you’re reading this and something that is supposed to be exciting also feels overwhelming, give yourself permission to acknowledge both. You can be grateful and exhausted. You can be proud of yourself and still need support. You can be exactly where you hoped you would be and still need a moment to check in with yourself.
Ivy Monk, Co-President
If you're reading this, it's okay to change your mind and to be uncertain about what comes next.
Growing up, it always felt like I had a plan, clear goals, and an idea of what I wanted to do in the future. What started as signing up to competitively swim in 5th grade turned into a 10-year-long career of chasing goals – from nationals cuts and qualifying for elite groups to swimming at the collegiate level. I was always goal-oriented, constantly striving to work harder, swim faster, and achieve whatever lofty goal I had set for myself. I never anticipated that my swimming career would end when it did.
When I stepped away from swimming last August, I was filled with confusion, self-doubt and anxiety at a level I had never experienced before. My goals were no longer based on qualification times for meets I dreamed of attending, and my schedule was no longer dictated by 25+ hours of practice each week. I struggled to figure out how to fill that void, and what having “goals” looked like without athletics.
Over the following months, I started thinking more about what actually brought me joy. I made the decision to switch majors when I realized my interests were changing, even though I had no idea where that change would lead me. I felt confused and anxious about my future and wasn’t sure how to begin finding myself outside of the identity I had known for so long. Through all of it, I tried to give myself the grace and time I needed to recover from burnout and figure out what came next.
This summer, I had the opportunity to live in D.C. and work for a high-protein ice cream startup (shoutout REALi!). It was something I never would’ve pictured myself doing, yet ended up being the perfect thing that made so much sense. I discovered a new industry, new interests and strengths I didn't even know I had, among many other things. I also spent a lot of time on my own, learning to be comfortable with not having everything figured out.
Though this summer didn’t give me an answer of what I “want to do in the future,” I'm beyond grateful that I allowed myself to try new things, surprise myself, and find some peace in not knowing exactly what comes next. This past year has taught me that sometimes the decisions that scare us the most can lead us exactly where we’re meant to go.
If you’re reading this, know that you’re allowed to change your mind. You’re allowed to try, fail, and pivot. You're allowed to reassess the goals and plans you once had for yourself. And most importantly, you’re allowed to give yourself grace while you figure out what comes next.
Max Haber, Outreach Chair
If you’re reading this, remember it is okay not to be okay.
In high school, I struggled with my mental health, and being a guy on the football team, I didn’t think it was okay to have these emotions, so I hid them. I got really good at looking “fine”. I told myself that it wasn’t serious enough to bother anyone with, that I’d feel better once something ended, and that handling it alone was the same thing as handling it. But I was wrong. The worse I felt, the better I got at seeming okay, and I think a lot of people can relate.
I thought about that a lot this summer. I was interning, working long hours in a new city where I didn’t know many people. I caught myself falling back into old habits, answering “how’s it going?” with “good, busy,” and leaving it there. Nothing was wrong. That’s the part worth saying. The instinct to go quiet doesn’t wait for something to be wrong; it shows up any time you’re somewhere new and want to seem like you belong.
What was different this time is that I recognized it, and I called people at home instead of waiting it out. Once I began doing this, the summer was great. By making the effort to stay connected instead of isolating myself, I was able to enjoy the experience, build new relationships, and feel more at home in a new city.
If you’re reading this, know that you’re allowed to say how you feel out loud. You’re allowed to not have a reason, or a diagnosis, or a story that sounds bad enough to justify it. You’re allowed to need help when nothing is wrong. And most importantly, you don’t have to put on a performance pretending to be okay before you actually are okay.
Avery Lipman, Editor
If you’re reading this, remember that you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.
My summer was filled with a mix of emotions, as I returned to the overnight summer camp I grew up going to in a new role. Over my past 9 summers as a camper, counselor, and now unit head, camp has shaped me into the person I am today by encouraging me to grow outside my comfort zone and allowing me to form meaningful connections with people I never would’ve met otherwise. I am forever grateful for each mundane moment there that has become a meaningful memory, as well as for the opportunity to give back to the place that’s given me so much.
While I was overjoyed to be back at my summer place, I could feel the exhaustion and stress building up as the summer progressed. I was supporting about 14 staff members and 50 campers at a time, planning unit activities, leading out-of-camp trips, giving evaluations, and more. I was working myself to my limit nearly every day because I wanted my campers and staff members to have the same positive experience that I once had, but I was being so hard on myself for each tiny mistake I made along the way. It was so difficult to live in the moment and be where my feet were when all I could think about was the next time I’d be able to rest.
Throughout the summer, I would tell my staff how important it was for them to be taking care of themselves. I reinforced that message daily, reminding them that they can’t take care of their campers until they take care of themselves. However, in doing so, I realized I was forgetting to do the same.
I got so wrapped up in taking care of those around me that I lost sight of something I hold to be important: self care. I experienced first hand what it was like trying to support others while not taking care of myself first. Towards the end of the summer, I worked to improve this by taking more time for myself, and though it felt like I was doing less, it ultimately enabled me to do more.
So, as we embark on a new school year, please remember to take care of yourselves and give yourselves grace, because self care provides you with the foundation to do everything else.
From the Team
As we start this new semester, remember that IfYoureReadingThis is a community built on support and understanding. Whether your summer was filled with travel, work, or just trying to get through the day, your experience and your feelings are valid.
Welcome home, Tar Heels. Let’s look out for one another.
IYRT Exec of 2026, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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