Anxiety, guilt, stress, depression, loneliness, grief – these are all words that I have heard said within the past few weeks from a number of fellow Tigers. 

These words are not just words, however. They are feelings, and they are powerful. 

Recently, some of my peers have expressed to me their encounters with these feelings. Whether they feel completely overwhelmed and bombarded by the stress of college schoolwork, or they feel lonely because they are homesick and missing their mom as their number one confidante, or they feel depressed because they do not see the beauty in themselves that everyone else sees. Or they feel grief over their suddenly fallen and too young pledge brother. These feelings are all around us. 

In a perfect world, these feelings would not be prevalent. We would all be happy and confident and satisfied. However, we know that we in fact do not live in a perfect world, and in a realistic world, these feelings are prevalent. Sounds awful, right? 

Wrong. 

The fact of the matter is that, even though we face these feelings more often than we would like to, it is alright because so many others around us are feeling the same way as well. 

This does not mean that it is sadness and loneliness and depression that makes the world go round. It means that no matter what we are feeling, or how sad or how lonely or how depressed we are, we are not alone. 

The problem is that not many people realize this. Sometimes when we feel anxious, guilty, stressed, depressed, lonely, or grievous, we convince ourselves that we are alone in this feeling, which makes it even more powerful and even harder to face. 

It’s ironic, though, because we are so wrong in thinking that we are alone. When you feel anxious over a test, so does the smartest girl in class who you assume will pass the test effortlessly. When you feel guilty over a poor decision you made, so does the innocent guy who lives right down the hall from you and who never seems to mess up. When you feel stressed over all the homework you have to do tonight, so does your professor over all of the papers he has to grade. When you feel depressed because you do not think you are pretty enough, so does your pledge sister who everyone knows is absolutely gorgeous. When you feel lonely because you haven’t seen your best friend in days, so does your best friend. And when you feel grievous because you have just lost a loved one, so does every single person who loved that person as well. 

We have got to start drilling it into our heads that we are not alone, because when we try to face these strong feelings by ourselves, it is all the more discouraging and takes all the more time. We need to remind ourselves that there is always someone who can relate to what we are going through. 

So, to my friend who feels completely overwhelmed and bombarded by the stress of college schoolwork, I felt the same way when I was a freshman. Your first semester of college is always the hardest and it is not an easy adjustment. All you can do is try your best and take things one step at a time. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. 

To my friend who feels lonely because she is homesick and missing her mom as her number one confidante, I promise you this is only a phase. You will learn to live independently and you have the support of all your friends here at Mizzou to guide you. And, of course, remember that momma is only a phone call away whenever you need her. 

To my friend who feels depressed because she does not see the beauty in herself that everyone else sees, you deserve so much more credit than you give yourself. You are intelligent, caring, funny, and you are beautiful. Inside and out. 

And, to my friend who feels grief over his suddenly fallen and too young pledge brother, I know how it feels to lose someone close to you. You can’t understand it and it feels impossible, but you have to remember that everything happens for a reason. Don’t forget how many people are here as a shoulder to lean on. 

We are not alone.