It's the new year, FINALLY!!! Personally, I couldn't wait for 2017 to end.

To keep a long story short, I learned a lot during the last half of the year, and I was determined to come back better and stronger. I realized that if I continued going down the path I was going down, I was going to self-implode, and I didn't want that for myself. That's when 2018 became the year I stopped making excuses.

What it boiled down to was I had virtually lost any motivation or drive within me, had isolated myself entirely, and spiraled into a pit of depression. This was all happening while I was so sick I was only able to eat a meal a day if I was lucky. I spent my entire winter break trying to get better, and it was the best decision of my life. Once my health was under control, I began working out every day.

As annoying as it sounds, your mental health does benefit when you're exercising on a daily or frequent basis. Slowly, I started making changes in my daily life. I began doing the things I said I was going to do. For example, when I came home for break I told myself I was going to clean out my room, which was something I've needed to do for years. The first day back I started, instead of saying, "Oh, I'll do it sometime" I would just do it. Instantly there was such a noticeable difference.

Lastly, I focused on happiness, and eliminate all the negativity from my life. A significant source of the negativity was coming from within me, and I started removing all the negative thoughts in my head. I began reaching out to friends more and engaging with people. Instead of isolating myself, I was spending time with friends studying, shopping, or anything rather than holding myself up in my room.

While it's a slow process, and one I'm still working on, I feel incredible. It felt like I lost myself when I went to college and I just recently came back. Nothing beats the feeling of being genuinely happy and proud of the progress you've made, and for that, I will keep moving forward.