We were lucky to catch up with Emme Mcdonald recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emme, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career.

I’m a junior in high school right now, and I think many will agree that academics have started to feel more like a zero-sum game than a means of gaining knowledge. The competition for top colleges and pressure to get “high stats” are real; people (myself included) feel they have to forgo classes they’re interested in if the GPA weighting is lower. I think there needs to be a bigger focus on pursuing topics you’re passionate about and building projects related to them rather than getting perfect scores on every test or grinding out high-status extracurriculars.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a web and app developer for mercuri.world, a worldwide network of activists, artists, and researchers working to eliminate barriers to mental health education. We aim to support everyone in their mental health journeys, whether that be by compiling resources in a range of formats and languages, providing individualized career assistance, or launching extensive social media outreach campaigns. Our website and mobile app will make access to our array of 400+ resources seamless and adaptive, allowing anyone to find what they need in just a few clicks.

I know the difference that access to quality mental health education can make, and applying tech to pressing issues like these is truly what motivates me in my work as a developer. My experience at mercuri.world has opened my eyes to the good that can come from dedicating yourself to a project you care deeply about. As I continue to build software to pioneer a new form of digital mental health activism, I hope to use my technical skills to effect meaningful change, and I hope to encourage other developers to find their passion so they can do the same.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Sometimes, when you’re struggling with mental health, accessing the help you need can be the hardest part. This is especially true for those who face barriers due to language, location, or funds, so getting people the support they need regardless of position and means is essential. Today, the ubiquity of technology means that digital resources are often the most widely available, which is what drives me to be a developer for mercuri.world; by building online tools and resources, I’m able to use my programming experience to make an impact in the communities I’m passionate about helping. Tools like mercuri.world’s job-matching program and resource library are a vision of what I believe the internet is meant to be – a haven for free information and benevolence that will benefit everyone, everywhere.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The main takeaway from my experience as a developer has been the value of learning in a hands-on, collaborative way, and the best way I’ve found to do this is by working together with other creatives to build real-world projects you can be proud of. A big part of this for me has been participating in hackathons, which are short, generally team-based coding marathons that culminate in a completed prototype of an app or piece of tech. They’re incredibly illuminating experiences that allow you to learn and grow with other developers, but also (crucially) they’re tons of fun! You can find hackathons of almost any size, theme, and vibe, so I encourage anyone with even a slight interest to try one out. For high schoolers, there’s an amazing organization called Hack Club that hosts all sorts of innovative hackathons (including one on a train!) and that furthermore has a wealth of resources for teenage coders – go check them out!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mercuri.world/
• Instagram: mercuri.world
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emme-mcdonald-342334318/