Getting through my first year of college was anything but easy. I struggled a lot with making friends, adjusting to being away from home, and dealing with health problems. Sometimes it all seemed like too much to handle, but I found value in little things that helped me get through the days. Here are a few.
1. Daily schedules
To try and structure my days I made an Excel spreadsheet for everyday that planned out what I'd be doing every half hour of the day.
Yes I know it sounds excessive, or obsessive, but it helped keep me on track and kept my anxiety down always knowing what I planned on doing.
2. My dog
Raquel Gonzalez
On the days that I just wanted to scream, throw in the towel and call it quits all it took was thinking about my dog to brighten up my day. I could just call my parents and ask to FaceTime with him and seeing his responses to my voice never failed to make me smile. And then whenever I could come home to see him, all my problems felt like they were a million miles away.
3. New books
Ever since I was little I loved reading and how with every page I turned I just got sucked further into a makeshift world. This became a source of my sanity, and an escape from my responsibilities of classes and the real world.
4. New music
Finding new songs that you can relate to is sometimes like finding a piece of you that you didn't even know was missing. Finding new songs that could describe how I was feeling when I didn't know how to was like a breathe of fresh air. It reminded me that even though college was such a foreign concept, and everything I was feeling was so foreign to me, I wasn't alone and other people know how I'm feeling too.
5. Wood crafts
Raquel Gonzalez
Going into the second semester I picked up wood burning, and wood carving. It was one of the best decisions I could've made. The amount of patience and focus that it required to do some of my projects, such as burning a design into a clock, took my mind off of whatever was racing through it in a heartbeat.
6. Photography
Taking pictures I was in total control of how I wanted to perceive the world around me. I was the one who decided what angle I wanted the perspective to be from, how much light would be present in an image, and the composition of the colors that made it up. It gave me a way to feel in control over my surroundings, when sometimes it felt like they were in complete control of me.
7. Sunsets
Raquel Gonzalez
And on the worst of the days it helped to just go up to the top of one of the parking garages on campus, and find a place to sit as I watched the sun set over the horizon. Not only was it beautiful, but it reminded me that even the worst of days had an end to them and didn't last forever.
man running in forestPhoto by 
