To begin, you should know that I am taking seventeen credit hours this semester, and I am a freshman. School has never been difficult for me, so I assumed that because one hour was orientation and one hour was lab, I was "technically" only taking fifteen hours, which many people do. At first, it wasn't an issue at all.

Now that I've had one test and one quiz in the two classes that I'm not strong in, I'm starting to realize how big of a mountain seventeen hours is to tackle.

I'm stressing.

Not to mention, I'm taking French, which I haven't taken in over a year, and I don't remember all of the conjugations. Of course, I could mention more stressors, but there is no reason for me to list them all. You understand.

Ironically, two of my classes have been focusing on stress management and mental health. I've been learning strategies on how to reduce stress and pointers to look for to understand when I get stressed and what my triggers are.

Until recently, I was listening, but I wasn't really hearing it because it wasn't applying to me.

Now, those lessons are applying to me. Furthermore, last week I went to a Mental Health Coloring Day event on campus and had to write a paragraph on the event. While writing the paragraph, I was looking up some statistics on mental health, stress, and college. The numbers are depressing (no pun intended).

I encourage you to take the time to look at some of those numbers yourself. But needless to say, we need to raise awareness about mental health; stress, anxiety, and depression are crippling and they are very real. I am nowhere near my "breaking point," but I am still feeling overwhelmed right now and I definitely need to start making time to unload and de-stress.

Take this article as your sign. This is me telling you that you are not alone, because the vast majority of people around you are dealing with stress too. This is me telling you that it's not good to just push it down and "deal with it" because ignoring it is not a solution...it's pulling the safety pin from a grenade. This is me telling you that you need to determine your stressors, think about why they are triggers, and start developing a plan with different ways to de-stress. Color in a book, listen to music, work out, hang out with friends, watch TV. Do something that will take your mind off of what's stressing you.

But, you also need to develop a plan on how to deal with it. Don't just hang with friends instead of studying for a test you don't want to take. Figure out a way to deal with that stress effectively and make it more manageable next time. Stress is inevitable, ignoring it is not a solution, and devising a plan of management and maintenance is crucial. Just because you might not think your stress or anxiety is "bad" does not mean you shouldn't ask for help. Get a hold on your mental health before your mental health has a hold on you.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)