This past spring and summer I began learning more about this disorder which had barged its way into my life. A disorder that requires medication, counseling... and a lot of patience from myself, friends and family members (and ideally coaches and professors). This fall, being my first experience with the college life, college athletics, and everything else that comes with the first semester of college, unfortunately my mental health fell to the back burner. I didn’t talk to my fall semester professors about my past and current struggles with my mental health. This turned out to be a problem later in the semester.
One morning I was having a particularly rough mental health day. I emailed all of my professors with a fairly generic reason such as “I am not feeling well today and will not be able to make it to class.” I felt that since I hadn’t pre-informed any of my professors about my disorder it would be better just to use a generic reason. Two of my professors responded saying they hoped I felt better soon and could make it back to class. One of my professors did not respond. Over the course of the next month after that, I missed about three classes for various mental health reasons.
One of my professors wanted to meet with me about my absences. Although I had informed her about my reason for missing class, she still wanted to meet with me. I was looking forward to having an in-person meeting with her about my reasons for missing class. During our conversation, a few points came up. One of the questions she asked was if her class was the only one I was missing. I thought this was very insensitive because she was offended that I wasn’t attending her class instead of being worried about my mental health. For that short period of time where my class attendance was sporadic, my grade was not significantly negatively affected. I managed to stay on top of my classwork with help from my classmates. My professor was more concerned about myself as a student than myself as a human being.
Later in the conversation she asked if it was possible for me to simply come to class, not participate, and not worry about being prepared for class on the days when I am having a difficult mental health day. It baffles me as to why her suggestion is better than not coming to class at all. Almost all of my other professors have said that if a student is unprepared, or not paying attention, they shouldn’t attend class. My professor had the opposite theory.
Recently a fellow student shared a similar story where she missed a few classes due to mental health struggles. She had a very positive experience with one of her professors. After informing her professor she would not be in class due to a rough mental health day, her professor responded and asked if she was safe. This is the best possible reaction a professor can have in this situation. Put the student first and worry about everything else later. The only thing that matters at this point is the student and their well-being.
This was all the student chose to share about this situation. It is very unfortunate that the professors I have had in the past haven't been educated in how to handle this type of situation. I hope our campus continues to help raise awareness for mental health among students and continues to provide support and education as far as resources for students and everyone on campus. If you have ever had a similar experience with a professor, coach, or anyone else, I hope you have other resources available to you that are supportive and provide you the help that you need.
