Back in October of 2025, Julie Zhang had a problem. Like many college graduates in St. Louis, she was looking for new communities and groups to join. Zhang took dance classes, attended improv workshops and joined an intramural soccer team, but wanted to connect with the city on a deeper level. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. 

On a whim, Zhang posted a Tiktok asking if there was interest in the St. Louis area for a journaling club.

 “The idea came to me really randomly one day. I thought, maybe it would be cool to journal with other people,” Zhang said. ”I thought I would just ask online and see what people thought about the idea … I didn’t expect it to go viral.” 

Zhang’s original Tiktok now has over 30,000 views and hundreds of comments. Zhang said she recognized the same desire she felt from others across the city. 

“It just became very clear that I was not the only one that was starved for community,” Zhang said. “People were very interested in trying out the concept.” 

Journaling has become a very popular form of self-care in recent years, intended to give individuals a space to log and analyze their feelings constructively.. Zhang said she believed that this would be a good way for her to grow as a journaler and offer others this same opportunity. 

“I’ve been journaling for as long as I can remember…I love journaling and going to the park and journaling as an activity,” Zhand said. “This has been a real passion project for me and I just love it.” 

Due to the colder weather on Nov. 9, 2025,  Zhang said the first meeting carried a general cloud of uncertainty.. 

“I had no way to gauge how many people would come. There was no RSVP list, and the cold weather was getting bad,” Zhang said. “But St. Louis people are tough. Everyone showed up dressed warmly, and it just went great.” 

In the end, it went much better than Zhang expected, with over 100 people in attendance outside at Art Hill in Forest Park. 

The collective’s impact has even been felt at SLU, where students have become regular members of Zhang’s monthly meetings. One such student, Sampriti Padmanaban, a sophomore studying public health and health management, said the club hosts a very diverse group of St. Louis residents.

“I feel like these kinds of events are mainly attended by people who are younger, but this one had a really wide variety of ages and demographics,” Padmanaban said. “I think I might’ve been one of the youngest people there.” 

Zhang spoke about the mental health benefits of journaling and her mission of sharing its benefits with the St. Louis community. A Wash-U alum and investment analyst, she said she has approached the idea of journaling with a very analytical mind. 

“Its always been something that I’ve approached with a lot of rigor, just getting to know myself and asking really big, identity defining questions…this kind of introspection really means a lot to me, like therapy, and I found journaling [to have the same feeling],” Zhang said.. 

Currently six months into her time as the journal groups host, Zhang has grown and changed massively along with her new group. Now having hosted multiple events, Zhang has established a rhythm, hearing from her attendees and choosing possible topics for journaling, which often correlate to the season and common themes of the month. She plans and runs every event herself, and has devoted a lot of time and effort towards this program. 

Once a date is set, Zhang will send out an RSVP list, which usually fills up in a few hours. The day before the event, she will post on her story the topic or question of the day, which will give attendees enough time to think over the prompt. Then everyone comes to the shared space, which is typically a local park or the MADE makerspace, they first journal on their own and then split off and discuss their thoughts in groups. Zhang said these discussions have helped people openly share their profound ideas. 

“It’s beautiful and rather unexpected, how vulnerable everyone was sharing these very personal parts of their life,” Zhang said. 

In a world with dwindling third-spaces and new communities, Padmanaban said she thinks this journal collective has brought new life to the city.

“I think when you have cool, accessible events like this in the area, you can expect a serious turnout,” Padmanaban said. “I hope this encourages more people to host events like this.” 

Zhang hopes to expand the collective by connecting with local business partners, like the St. Louis Makerspace, and potentially make clubs at WashU and SLU. Stay informed on the upcoming meetings on Instagram at @stljournalcollective.