If you’ve been to the Marino Center, you’ve probably seen it – or maybe only I notice it because I’m conditioned to notice such things. On the second floor, right next to the bulletin board proclaiming “the new carb rules” is another bulletin board displaying a single, centered piece of paper.

“NEWCOPE,” it reads, “Northeastern’s eating and weight concerns project.” Any average person who reads it probably wonders for a moment, “What is this NEWCOPE thing?” But I know what it is. NEWCOPE is a support group for people with eating disorders. People like me.

At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. That’s what NEWCOPE would be if it actually existed.

After a six-year battle with various forms of an eating disorder, I have seen it all, done it all. Call me a seasoned veteran. By now, I am unique in the world of eating disordered people, because I can acknowledge that I have problems. I can honestly say I want to get rid of them, and I want to help others do the same.

My perpetual question, to God, to myself, to my family, has been: Why is this happening to me?

In my experience with “professional” help, the many therapists I’ve seen have always thought they knew exactly what I was feeling and have always been wrong. More than anything, I’ve wanted to find other people who are like me, who really know what I feel.

One of the things I most looked forward to about college was the possibility of finding some of those people. I once read that 60 percent or more of students on a college campus are likely to have some form of an eating disorder. Simply put, at a school as big as Northeastern, that’s a heck of a lot of people who need help.

So I thought somewhere in the endless sea of student groups, there had to be a support group of some kind … didn’t there?

Apparently not.

NEWCOPE has an office on campus, has a Web site, has an advertisement in the Marino Center. There must have been a time when it functioned. So why doesn’t it seem to function anymore?

I have visited the office during the advertised hours, just to see what I would find. I found it dark and empty. I have e-mailed more than one address and have found the messages sent back as if those addresses did not exist.

My question now is: Wherefore art thou, NEWCOPE?

If anyone who reads this knows something I don’t, please let me know. If you do exist, NEWCOPE, then make it known. People need you.

So now I’m talking to you, the 60 percent of this campus that potentially has eating problems. I know you’re embarrassed, or maybe downright unable to admit to your problems. I know you’re afraid to talk about it, and this is probably why there is no NEWCOPE anymore. A support group can’t function if the people who need support are afraid to ask for it.

I know you are out there, 60 percent. I see you every day. I see things you do, I hear things you say and I know that you, like me, have an eating disorder. It takes one to know one. Maybe you don’t know it, maybe you don’t want to admit it, but for many of you, it’s true. You know what else is true? That you need help.

I am not ashamed to admit to my eating disorder anymore. For almost half of my life, it’s been a part of who I am – the only part that I strongly dislike. But even when I feel my worst, I know I’m not alone. I just wish I knew other people who would tell me so.

We all need to be understood, all of us members of the 60 percent. We could find that understanding in each other, if only we knew of each other’s existence. We could help each other find the way back to normal life.

I’m here to tell you, I understand.

Fellow 60 percenters, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jill, and I have problems. I’m not afraid to say so anymore. But I am getting better, and I want you to realize that you can, too. I can’t tell you it will happen in a day, but what I can do in a day, today, is tell you that you are not alone.

My hope is that someday soon, a group like NEWCOPE will become more active, so all of the new students who come to Northeastern in the coming years will not have to feel alone anymore.

– Jill Campbell is a freshman journalism major and a member of The News staff. She can be reached at [email protected].