High School: Senior Year!!!

Heart pounding, consistent and intrusive loud beating in your head, body trembling, mind racing, can’t eat, nausea,etc. If any one or a combination of these symptoms apply to you, you may be dealing with the effects of anxiety and elevated stress. Mental health is one of the most critically important aspects of being a millennial in today’s world. There are so many different forms of issues that arise in regards to mental health, but I am choosing to highlight the issues revolving around anxiety and stress. Whether you are eighteen years old and preparing to enter college or the real world or you are a twenty-something year old young adult, mental health is about handling situations and stress of life as you encounter it. I am a twenty-two year old and second semester senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Over the course of my four years in (excuse my bias) the absolute greatest university and place on earth, I was able to help one of my very best friends through several episodes of severe anxiety. Without going into too much detail, they struggled with anxiety and it lead to debilitating stress on their body and spirit. I am hoping to offer you some advice from these experiences with them that will lead you to see the light at the end of your dark tunnel. For college students, stress is a common factor for just about everyone. Stress over grades, stress about their appearances, stress about their personal lives, stresses of excitement, etc. Regardless of which type of stress is causing the suffering, it has the potential to be a very scary and immobilizing feeling. Don’t get me wrong, stress can be beneficial depending on which type it is. Good stress (I know it sounds funny) is the stress that the body encounters when there is an exciting factor introduced into your life. Bad stress is all the negative situations that cause someone to react to the stimulator with detrimental reactions, such as those referenced in the opening paragraph. When you encounter stress, it may be helpful to consider the following and put those you find the most beneficial into use: 1. Support: Reach out to your friends and family. No one is alone and most of the time, if you approach another student with information about your personal struggle, they will have had a similar experience and can give you advice on how they handled it. 2. Meditation: Find a meditation or quiet time that you can practice when you begin to feel overwhelmed or at the brink of an anxiety attack. This can be anything from a yoga practice, breathing exercise, or if you are religious, a prayer or recitation of a bible verse. As a devout Christian, when my friend was going through their rough patch, I encouraged them to memorize one particular verse that I felt encapsulated the way to overcome anything. This verse was: “I sought the Lord and He heard me. He delivers me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4) 3. Professional Help: Seeking professional help is not something that makes you different from others or designates you as “crazy”. I have had so many of my friends tell me that they have sought advice from a counselor and the overwhelmingly positive impact that it had on their lives. If you are attending a university, most of the time a simple Google search will turn up tons of free resources on campus that are available to all students. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. There are no doubt many ways in which someone can overcome stress that isn’t covered in this short entry, but these are the ones that stand out to me as those that were most helpful for my friends who have dealt with these situations. I realize I am no expert on the subject of mental health but my hope is that, if you are reading this in search of help, you can find what you were looking for in my three points. Elizabeth Morrow Brewer UNC Class of 2017, Political Science, B.A. Elon University School of Law, Class of 2019 brewerem@live.unc.edu

There is nothing quite like a buzzer beating shot or a walk off in the bottom of the 9th inning. The fans go wild and success is achieved, but the real story behind a team’s success goes all the way back to the decisions made in practice, the gym, and previous games. Similarly, your success and ease of life as a responsible adult and college student relies on the daily habits you create and decisions you make each day. I was home schooled until college. Each Monday, my mom would hand my brother and I our assignments for the week. Then, we would be responsible for completing the week’s work by the end of the day on Friday. The flexibility taught me how to manage my time with sports practices, extracurricular activities, and fun all crammed around school work. Having this independence at a young age, allowed me to transition very well to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and now my job as a Consultant at IBM. Over the years I have picked up on several tips that have worked well for me or I have seen work well for others. Below are what I consider the Big 5. 1. Wake up and eat breakfast. Many college students will sleep in as long as they can right up until running out the door to rush to their 8 AM or 9:30 AM class. Remember when your mom used to wake you up and have breakfast ready? Yeah you need to keep doing that but just by yourself now. Being able to be productive before morning classes and having energy in classes not only opens your schedule later in the day but it makes you feel better as well. 2. Keep a calendar and to do list. This is an absolute must. Many people think that means carry a planner everywhere and write everything down word for word. While that is one effective way, it is by no means the only. However, if you do use a planner I suggest one that is a month per page so you can see ahead and use different color pens or pencils to group different activities. I personally keep my major events, travel, vacations, and family and friend birthdays in iCal on my iPhone with reminders on a day and a hour before the event time. I also keep a short term weekly action item sticky note permanently on my laptop’s desktop. Other great apps are Evernote and Wunderlist. 3. Remember why you are in college. School obviously comes first. It is the reason you, your parents, or scholarships are paying for you to be there. In college, there will be many times where you have to say no to hanging out with friends or going to the game in order to complete assignments. As a freshman, figure out the time you need and set up a baseline routine for completing the work. Then, you can schedule in club activities, intramural sport, work, time with friends, etc. 4. Value your time as the hourly salary you could earn right now. For most college students, your time is worth about $8-$10. As an example, if you do not see $30 in value from playing video games for 3 hours, you should probably find something else to do. Valuing your time in this way allows you to weed out the excess or distracting activities that do not benefit you or those around you. 5. Find ways to enjoy the hardest work. Many phrase this as “embracing the grind”, but it really is crucial because you have to do it for the rest of your life. Find the place where you work best, buy a coffee, or make a good music playlist. Time management is one life skill that can set you apart from others and help you reach your potential. Really smart people in college can do poorly due to only poor time management while others who did not score the highest on the SAT or have a 4.9 GPA can really succeed in and maximize the college experience. Do not let time hold you back, beat the buzzer. Christopher Donaldson UNC Class of 2016, Kenan-Flagler Business School cldonald91@gmail.com www.ChristopherLDonaldson.com