We've all been there- overly tired, overwhelmed, bags under our eyes, no sleep, and the only thing keeping us going is that Starbucks latte with three extra shots of espresso. Some may call this finals week and some may call this a normal week. It's a well-known fact that everyone in college is stressed with overwhelming amounts of work, but is this healthy?

In today's competitive world, this idea of "college" has been normalized. Who can stay up the latest to study, who can consume the most amount of caffeine in 24 hours, and overall, who can get the highest grade. Doing well in school is important, but life is so much more than that. Your mental health is far more valuable than any exam you will ever take in college.

In high school, I always struggled academically. I didn't know how to study, I couldn't read to save my life, and any little mistake or obstacle I had while doing homework would put me over the edge. I didn't handle stress well and my way of fixing things was to go upstairs, lay in bed, and shut the world off. Every once in a while this may be okay, but for me, this was a daily occurrence. Long story short, many of my struggles were due to the instability of my mental health.

Regardless if you have a diagnosed mental illness or not, it is still extremely important to recognize your overall state of mind and how stress can affect it. Talk about your feelings, get a good group of friends for support, and don't be afraid to ask for help. Put down that chem book and watch a movie with your friends. Go for a drive with the windows down and blast your favorite "happy" song. Make a spontaneous trip to Target to get your mind off of school for a minute. We are all struggling in some way and we need to be our own mental health advocate. College is hard. Balancing school, sports, work, friends, family, and relationships can be a difficult thing, but your are not just a student, you are a person and you are worth far more than a single letter grade.