Mental health is something that is very important and not really discussed. Although, it has begun to be a more talked about subject. In college, mental health is extremely important as is our overall health. We often put our grades before our mental health and literally everything else. To go to sleep or stay up until 5 AM to finish this assignment? To eat or to finish this paper? We too often let assignments and grades stress us out so badly that we let them overtake physical needs.
Our health is what keeps us alive. Grades do not. This past semester, I have learned to let my health dictate my assignments and papers and grades. It's not that I flat out gave up. It's not that I didn't go to class. It's not that I didn't turn in the assignments. None of that happened It's just that about mid-semester I realized I may have taken on just a tad too much. I know that it might not have seemed like a lot to some, but to me, it became too much.
I was working at my regular job, volunteering, and going to college full time. I ended up reaching a limit. My stress and worry overcame me. I had no idea how to manage it all, and that is something that is key to learn in college. I ended up cutting out work. Yes, extra money was nice but I needed to do what I did. It was tough to do, but afterward, I felt a weight lifted off of me. I loved my job, but my health is more important. I would come home and be worn out. And then I would have assignments to do. It was tough to keep up with it all.
I determined that I needed to have a main goal, and that was to focus on school. Having a goal can somewhat help one maintain a flow of doing things is what I learned. It was tough to keep focus and time manage everything. But I knew it was worth it. I stayed not as stressed as I would have been had I kept my job. But I felt healthier. It didn't feel like I was dodging arrows. I felt better than I had all semester. So that's when I realized that I don't have to save the whole world at once. Sometimes I have to save myself first.
