Stand Up Grand Forks was started in Grand Forks, North Dakota in April of 2017. One of my fellow peers, a lowerclassman at Grand Forks Central High School committed suicide due to bullying from students and elegiacally some staff. The community came together like no other in efforts to bring awareness to the stigma of mental health and bullying within our community. I used this tragedy as motivation since his death was the 3rd that occurred within the Grand Forks School District, obviously something had to be done, one youth suicide was too many.

I reached out to WDAZ News and met the wonderful Scott Cook. Scott walked me through how to do better interviews with media. Scott also covered Stand Up Grand Forks during our appearance at the Grand Forks Schools District School Board meeting, where mental health was addressed.

The movement is still in the works but as of 2019 the movement has reached to Minnesota, Indiana, Washington, Texas, Missouri, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Connecticut, Alaska and even the large island of Hawaii. It doesn't just stop there, we've now reached England and Canada.