Hello, How Are You?

It’s customary to greet the people you encounter with a friendly hello, every once in a while tagging a “how are you?” to the end of our greeting. But how many times have you asked that question with real intent rather than to simply sound polite? The same goes for when we respond to the question, is it truthful or has this part of the conversation also become an auto-piloted response? 

It seems that as time goes on the world as we know it changes to something that can hardly be recognized by its older generations. Especially when it comes to the challenges that are faced by college students like us, the overwhelming amount of stress sometimes seemingly unbearable. Which is why as college students, we should be interested in the well-being of our peers more than anyone else, because we can all relate to some degree to each other and our struggles.

Through the rose colored lens of social media it can seem that certain people have it all together, but these posts do not tell the whole story. Most people only want to share the good things, and not necessarily the troubles that they face. Which is why asking how someone is doing, and sincerely meaning it is so important. However, helping yourself first is the best way that you can be there for someone else. Being able to recognize when you need help is just as important as looking out for the people around you.

My whole life I’ve always put others needs ahead of my own. Growing up with six younger siblings, I feel like it was just programmed in me to take care of others. Anything they needed, physically, emotionally, I was there. And for the most part I feel like it should always be like this. But recently I’ve come to discover that my own health must be in line before I can ever be able to take care of others the way that they need. I’ve taken steps to go to counseling when life begins to get a little too hectic. I have friends that I can also talk my problems out with or go out for a night on the town to decompress and let loose. Sometimes that’s all you need. But no matter what the outlet is, having one is the important part. 

It is important to recognize when you feel overwhelmed or stressed out and even more important to have healthy ways to relieve this stress, and it’s okay to not know where to start. Which is why having on-campus services like CAPS is so helpful to students. Being able to have a neutral third party to listen to you and help work through some problems can be just what you need to get through the hard times. CAPS is an on-campus counseling service that is available to you seven days a week at any time of the day or night that you might need a call. The calls are completely confidential so you never have to worry about the release of your personal information. Using CAPS is a very discrete and efficient way to deal with the stress and pressure applied by rigorous academics and other things that may happen in your personal life.

Being able to take care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health, and should be treated as such. We should check on the health of our peers while also keeping ourselves in mind. Utilizing on-campus resources like CAPS is essential to successfully maneuvering our way through our college years and even teaches us some skills to use later in life when we are faced with similar problems.

The hard times don’t get any easier, we just must find better ways of coping and dealing with them.