Mental Health In College

We’ve all been there. We’ve experienced the chaos of attempting to submit before 11:59pm, balancing different sectors of your life such as your friends and family, while still trying to find the time to send follow up emails after a business trip while standing in line at Starbucks. Not to mention attempting to wake up early for your devotional and go to the gym. I get it. It’s challenging. It’s a lot. The idea of balancing it all is idyllic and overwhelming at one time.

Even typing out what a typical day in college looks like for me gives me a headache. This very reason is why it had to be the first article on my blog. It is because right now —during Winter Break--away from Spelman - gives me a sense of peace and calm that I cannot seem to grasp while on campus, honestly even during the school year. It comes in small increments and it’s fleeting. Even the thought of going back to school has me all types of stressed out...look my point of all this is-mental health is extremely important-mental health while experiencing/matriculating through college…..even more important. There is nervous energy circulating around campus that all of us are experiencing at the same time. The simultaneous pressure of being booked and busy in college and feeling guilty about downtime has to stop. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 80% feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities as a student.

A lot of my Spelman sisters I know feel the same way. Several of my friends have disclosed to me that they feel the pressure of succeeding no matter what. I like to call it “hustle culture” where you are expected to grind all the time and everyone should have their own business by 25. Not only do they feel the pressure, but they are also having mental breakdowns behind it. They equate their level of productivity with their self-worth and began to feel like they are not enough. If they don’t get that interview or that A they have been working towards, it automatically takes a blow to their self-worth. However, what they and I have to realize is that their value doesn’t change. We are still a great asset to any company we would work with-whether they choose us or we choose them. It can be challenging to apply this philosophy when you are actually in this position, but we must if we really want to prioritize our mental health.

This semester has been one of my hardest yet at Spelman and one of the most serious battles I have had with mental health. I have experienced new growth in ways I would have never imagined, but that came from being in situations I would have never expected. Over the summer break, the doctor diagnosed me as pre-diabetic and high blood pressure so I started to pay a bit more attention to my physical health. When the semester began I would get up at 9 am to go to the gym before my 11 o’clock swim class. Sometimes, I would wake up earlier to go to the cafeteria before they closed. I was even eating right, sis! Yes, I said eating right! Then I got my heartbroken to put it in simplest terms. So I fell off, lol and I never picked back up. Then that nervous energy and pressure that I mentioned earlier seeped in and my mental health was on an emotional roller coaster ever since September. During October, I sort of regained some focus in my professional life but that balance was still lacking. Leaving me to internally battle on whether or not I was doing everything right. After finding out about some family issues at the top of November and catching feelings for someone who didn’t return them, I was over the whole semester and burnt out. However, it led me to the two things that helped save my life in college-- The Living Room and Spelman Counseling Center! Over the course of November and December, I started seeking the Lord and fell in love with my college ministry called The Living Room. Being in that place, hearing God’s message for me at exactly the right time carried me through the rest of the semester. If you want to come with me to The Living Room let me know too! Also, I began to see a counselor and I absolutely loved it. I realized that there are a lot of things I have to work through. I did not want to be a burden to my friends. I wanted a long term solution. Being able to discuss my feelings with a counselor about all the new experiences in my life was amazing.

I learned soooo much but I will only share with you the things that I think will benefit you:

1. Treat Yourself the Way You Would Want To Be Treated. If you are anything like me, you do so much for others but nothing for you. You are constantly giving and pouring into others but neglect yourself. Take yourself to the nail salon. Write yourself a love letter. Buy yourself that necklace you have always wanted.

2. Focus on You Boo! My counselor said it best, “Nobody of quality is going to want you anyway if you’re not handling your business. You can’t give yourself and what you need to do. Nobody is going to treat you better than you do yourself and getting your own goals done. Every move you make sets the tone for your future.”

Hopefully, by sharing my mental health journey in college with you I have inspired at least one person reading this. As I stated on my Instagram post, “In order to become the woman I envision myself becoming I need to be in tune with my self. So that means yes to journaling, counseling, and anything other forms of self-care. While struggling with my own personal issues, I hope I can inspire others to look within and do the same.” With that, I’m out!

Until next time! Love,

A’Shiah Naomi