The worst part about the education system is the mindset that your grades are so insanely important and that you need to do whatever it takes to get straight As. Although getting good grades is definitely great, the pressure put on students does nothing but create stress and unhappiness.
I'm not saying don't work hard or don't study. But if I decide to skip class for a mental health day every now and then, it shouldn't be frowned upon. Again, I'm not saying we should all slack off and skip class and get bad grades. But it doesn't hurt to have someone say that it's okay to take a day to yourself to focus on your mental health. Or that it's okay if you completely spaced and missed a homework assignment. It happens to all of us.
Midterm season always puts me on edge. College is not like high school. There are maybe only two or three tests a semester for a course, leaving little room for failure. If you fail the midterm, you're probably not getting more than a B in the class, if you're lucky. This is why it's so stressful. You have one or two chances to get an A for the whole class. Sure, there's homework and participation, but those are usually a very small percentage of the course grade.
This is why there's so much pressure on students to do well on exams. If you fail one test, you're basically screwed.
I'm just here to remind everyone that it's going to be okay. Even if you do poorly on a test or two, everything usually works out and you won't flunk out of college altogether. It's okay to get a B or even a C. It's not like the world is going to crumble around you.
Do your best, work hard, and worry about your mental health and happiness along the way. It's going to be alright.