How to Prevent Anxiety During Your Freshman Year

“I can’t wait for college!”

“The best years are yet to come!”

I see many posts like this as I scroll through my social media, namely from graduating high school seniors that will be starting their college endeavors in the upcoming fall.

And honestly, these posts make my heart sink a little bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my college. I’ve made many friends, and I enjoy the freedom that comes along with it; however, people always tend to overlook the major issue with our secondary education system: the mental health drain.

I myself have fallen victim to this. I was the typical high school student that didn’t study for a single test and managed to ace all of her tests. And then college came.

No one ever talks about the mental effects college will have on you. They place college on such a high pedestal that you cannot possibly see the negatives.

Majoring in a health field is a challenge all its own, but no one prepared me for how to study for Anatomy or how to manage my time for a six-week class with a semester’s worth of information.

I passed my classes, yes, but at what cost? If anything, my mental health took the heaviest blow.

When I got my first C on an exam, I was slightly devastated. Then I found out it was a C with a curve, which made matters worse. As the semester went on, I panicked more and more.

I’d tried making flash cards, watching videos online, reading the textbook, rewriting my notes—you name it, I did it. And it took such a toll on my brain and body.

From the start of freshman year to the end of it, I have lost over ten pounds of weight I didn’t know I had. I’d often wake up from nightmares of failing, which would evolve into panic attacks (at one point, they happened almost every night). I couldn’t tell you how many nights before a test I cried myself to sleep, knowing that I was doomed but not knowing how to save myself. At this point in the semester, the only thing that mattered to me was passing my classes. I didn’t have time for the things I enjoyed or the people I loved. My life became school.

Now I am a sophomore, and I have just been accepted into my program. Even though it has only been a year, I feel like I can tell the upcoming freshman what I have learned from my experiences, and how they can avoid the mental impact I had.

1. Find the best way to manage your time.

This seems basic, I know, but trust me, when the time comes, you will not study every day for one class like you should. In a normal semester-length class, collect all of your notes at the end of the week and either rewrite them to make more sense, or make some flash cards out of them. Anxiety tends to creep in when you look at the amount of work you have in the small time frame you have got. Split your work up into every other day, if you need to. It will feel like a lot of work, but it will feel like a lot more if you wait.

2. Ask for help. Any help.

It doesn’t matter from who: the professor, the T.A., the tutor, a classmate. Constantly ask people that are in the same boat as you what they’re doing that is working. T.A.’s and tutors are there specifically to help students (or in a small class, the professor). Don’t be afraid or intimidated; Their job is to help you. Ask dumb questions, any kind of questions. Professors also notice the students that are trying.

3. Take mental breaks.

This is where I went wrong the most. I never gave myself time to relax. I told my friends I couldn’t hang out because I had too much to study for, when in reality, I probably could have been more productive if I hung out for an hour or two and then got back to work. Mental breaks can be as simple as giving yourself 30 minutes of doing something you enjoy. You can watch 30 minutes of Netflix, and then go back to studying. It will make you feel less stressed, just as long as those breaks aren’t taking more time than studying.

I hope that these tips will be helpful to someone, somewhere. Your mental health is not something you should compromise, ever. A mental illness is not as transparent as a physical injury like a broken arm, but it hurts all the same. Take care of yourself, and hopefully you will avoid the mental health issues many college students will experience in their time at university.