At school, people experience things differently. Some have both parents, or just one parent, or maybe not any at all. Some have higher expectations when it comes to their grades than others do. Nobody really knows what is going on in everyone else’s lives, and sometimes that can be a problem. Not to say nobody has a right to privacy, but there are people who go through such a hard time, that they need help, whether it be from friends, family, a counselor, or even a teacher.

I was raised to have nothing but A’s and B’s since I was in pre-K. Sure, it was easy during those years in elementary, but as I grew older I found myself under constant stress as every day passed. I had to juggle my personal life and school life, which was not only new to me, but hard as well. I had gone through many changes and fell to hard times, even having to be homeless for a few months and I couldn’t always get everything that I wanted or stay updated on the latest clothing trends. I started to care less about my well-being and about others instead. I thought that I shouldn’t ask for help or else I’d be a bother to everyone else.

As anyone can imagine, that wasn’t healthy at all.

This isn’t just about my experience, either. There are many people who, even though some may not have had to experience exactly what I’ve been through, have had similar events happen to them. People spend most of their childhood in school, so there should be more options available to them. People with anxiety, like me, sometimes feel nervous about going to the counselor and struggled with their problems alone. There are some people who are too afraid to tell anyone about what they’re going through, whether it be at school or at home, and have nowhere to go.

What could help in this if we had a more readily available and private resource center on campus with the names of local therapists students can go to or numbers that they can call for help. Something like this would be better than videos of poor quality students are subjected to.  Students know those aren’t the answers, but the resources we need are not as easily accessible for everyone.

Mental health is important. Believe it or not, mental health cannot affect  how well you do in school and in relationships. The constant cramming of homework in our faces and the last minute, somewhat worthless projects that are slapped into out Google Classrooms without prior warning affects us way more than teachers think. There are some students who don’t do work because they aren’t mentally capable of doing so. Students aren’t just robots that always have the energy to do every task given to them–they’re humans. They have feelings just like everyone else, and it’s important to remember that.