Amanda Olejniczak
Bio
I am a writer, poet, and proud advocate for mental health. Addtional content I create can be found on Instagram: @amanda_unfiltered or @amanda_unfiltered_poetry.
Stories (44/0)
Raising Awareness
I think we can all agree that age 16 is a tough time for everyone- you don’t want to be treated like a child, but you are a child, but you could have some adult responsibilities like a job, driving, and keeping up with school, and a social life on top of it all. When I was 16 I was diagnosed with Anorexia and depression. I was not driving or working, I was not often socializing with friends, and on the rare occasion when I would, I was anxious the whole time. Then in April of 2012, I was admitted to treatment; my whole life was put on hold to make sure I was eating enough. I struggled with body image and food consistently since middle school, but once the stresses of high school caught up to me my sophomore year, I became engulfed in the world of self-hatred and starvation very quickly and it almost cost me my life.
By Amanda Olejniczak2 years ago in Psyche
- Top Story - January 2022
An Open Letter To My Therapist Top Story - January 2022
Dear S, When I was in elementary school, I remember getting an assignment asking me to think of who my hero was. I was to draw what they looked like, and to describe them. I remember having a hard time choosing between my mom and dad. I was never one to believe in the kind of heroes that could fly or pick up cars, not even as a kid. I guess I’ve always been a little deeper than that. A hero to me has always been someone real. Now, at 25, my idea of what a hero is has not changed much; when I hear the word hero, I immediately think of you.
By Amanda Olejniczak2 years ago in Psyche
Poet In The Making
I have a distinct memory of bringing my home-made-scotch-taped-together-hand written-on-computer-paper-book into show-and-tell in kindergarten. I proudly presented the “book” to the class. Of course the main character had red hair like mine. I read the story I wrote to the class with passion and stood up as they all clapped for me at the end.
By Amanda Olejniczak2 years ago in Poets
The Pandemic
Well, if you are reading this, we made it to 2021. It is officially 2021 which means it's time for me to pick up where I left off. I did not make an official New Year's resolution this year, however I feel that I need to get my creative juices flowing again for the sake of my mental health. It has been quite some time since I last wrote for Vocal, but I am back and here to stay! I love writing, and one thing is for sure, Covid-19 put a huge damper on my motivation. Although the pandemic is not over, I am using this time as an opportunity to try and get back into doing the things I love.
By Amanda Olejniczak3 years ago in Motivation
Inspirational
On March 4, 2020 I got engaged to the love of my life, Emily, and it was far from traditional, but is definitely a part of our story I’ll cherish forever. On March 4th, I was sitting on the couch in the living room and the thought of promise rings crossed my mind. I spontaneously asked Emily if she would like to get promise rings and she excitedly said yes. Our original plan was to order them from an online store but we weren’t sure of what sizes we needed so again I made the spontaneous decision to get us an Uber to take us to the mall. We went to a jewelry store and picked our rings. It was an easy decision, then from there we went to the food court. While eating dinner the topic of proposal came up. Emily said she had thought of proposing to me on our 1 year anniversary and honestly the rest is a bit of a blur because I was so happy that I had found my person. Eventually over that conversation, we decided we wanted more than a promise ring, we wanted to be engaged so we decided anxiously and excitedly, right there in the mall food court that we were engaged. This part of our story is so “us”. We are both goofy, non traditional, and love each other with our whole hearts. We are so comfortable around each other and we are the happiest we’ve ever been. I am confident that Emily is the love of my life and I will be with her for the rest of my life.
By Amanda Olejniczak4 years ago in Humans
Because of my therapist
Being diagnosed with Anorexia at the age of 16 was not a part of my plan. I dreamed of being an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor while gigging in a band as a drummer on the side. For as long as I can remember being a doctor and a drummer was my plan, that plan took a huge turn after my parents made the decision to pull me out of the art school I was attending and put me back in the public school system. The short story for why they made this decision is that while I was already knee-deep in Anorexia at this point, yet still went unnoticed, I had decided I wanted to be a psychologist to help other people so therefore I did not want to take percussion as my elective any longer which my parents did not approve of.
By Amanda Olejniczak4 years ago in Psyche