Going into college I was less than mentally stable. I didn’t have a set major, I was moving to a brand new state and a brand new town where I barely knew a soul. I was leaving my best friends, my family, and my home, everything that had shaped me to be the person I am today.

For some people, this is easy and they are ready to fly but for some reason I wasn’t quite ready to be free. Perhaps it was the lingering thoughts of being an actual adult, or the fact my mom forces me to make my own dentist appointments now but there was a bigger overlying factor. I didn’t know if I could do it.

I learned quickly that to survive here you must not care so much what other people think, which is a task easier said than done. Mental health is very underrated and undertreated in today's society. If physical injuries were treated like mental health patients were treated we would have people with a lot of broken limbs trying to get around this earth.

Everyone understands that you went to college to get an education, maybe have some fun, and form new relationships. Yet the goal is also to not physically drain yourself in the process. Yes, education is important but you are worth way more than than any full-ride scholarship.

Though it's hard to come to terms with this when you can hardly think straight because you were up so late finishing that English paper or studying for that Calc II exam. It took me a while into my first year of college to realize the validity of this statement and why it is so important. Today, college students are taught that we need to be the best of the best and any of our needs that are out of the normal are not as important as our GPA.

What people who are not in college do not understand is the extreme emotional and physical drain that college can put on you. There would be days last semester where I would take naps every chance I could because I couldn’t help it. Even professors don’t completely understand what they put us through. I’ve seen many of my friends whisked away to mental rehabilitation centers throughout the duration of this year and before any one of my friends or I can even feel the slightest of empathy for them we can’t help but think “is it going to be me next"?

This is why your mental health is the most important thing you’ll learn about in college. Taking care of yourself is never something you should feel guilty for, heck be as selfish as you want when it comes to taking care of yourself. We, in society, need to educate people on the effect of mental health and what it can really do and how it can affect the way we live and function. It's important that people know mental stability is just as important as physical stability. College is supposed to be a time of amazing growth and activity but sometimes life gets in the way. This is when you have to pick yourself up, and keep going because like Stephanie Bennett Henry said, “Life is tough, but so are you.”