As I have grown older I have realized I have really high ups and really low lows. I figure this is the same with many people in the world- whether it is rough times at work, highschool, college, or relationships. Since school started I have been lucky to have bonded together with a group of people I now call bestfriends. Through this time, we shared many things that I realized has helped our mental health.

1. A consistent group of friends allows trust to grow.

I have always found myself jumping between band friends to fraternity sisters, and to fraternity dude friends. Sectioning them off from eachother made me not able to nourish those relationships. Since growing with my bestfriends, we have found ourselves meeting for food one to two times a day, as well as meeting at one of our places every night. This is good because everyone goes through rough spots in life and to have people to go to when you need them is very important. I always had the mentality of 'I can do it on my own,' but now I would not have it any other way.

2. Uno can save lives.

One weekend we had a game night for a friend that came into town to visit.There were 15 of us! This was amazing because as we played Uno, we were given time to talk openly as we played the game. Many people of our generation are consumed by cellphones. herefore communication skills are thought of to be sparce. But when we play Uno, it is business. It distracts us from stressing over school, relationships, as well as work. We also do not stare at phones constantly, and we talk about our lives. This is something every person should have a version of-a time to just let go and relax.

3. Late night can turn into early morning hikes.

Did you know a game of Uno can last four hours?! Well, it happened. At 5:45am we decided we would wait an extra hour to drive to the mountain and watch the sunrise. I have not seen the sunrise in over a year. I remember it clearly, sitting on my balcony with hot tea and reading The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Going with my friends to see the sunrise was just as impactful. It gave us a reminder that no matter what happens, the sun will rise again. If everything in life is inconsistent and not practical, atleast we can count on a new day, another 24-hours to try to impact the world.

4. Deep conversations on a rock in the woods of a mountain.

Mental health is something that seems to affect many people in the world. When watching my friend stand on a rock, as I stood on a log, both watching the sunrise and feeling the cold breeze on our face we could not help but open up about all our bottled up anxieties, our life stories, our fears, and our love for our friendship. We all agreed we wake up in the morning contemplating living, and thinking of our actual impact on the world. I wondered why it seemed our lives crossed suddenly, and why we took to eachother so much-turns out it was because we had so much incommon. It was just all bottled up. Once that bottled got shaken enough, it seemed the bird chirps, breeze and sunrise opened the bottle, and tears flew as we all spoke. The sunrise might have just given us the strongest bond and best of friends I could have ever asked for. I also believe if not for the sunrise and Uno, we four might not have made it very long.

I never knew how much a sunrise could impact a life-to slow your mind down, give you time with yourself, and to have time with friends to lean on, we as people are bound to make it through life healthier and happier.