Over the last eight months, things have been interesting to say the least. Transitioning from dorm and campus life to life at home during the spring quarter was not as bad as I thought it would be. But going into summer is when it became more difficult as I would sometimes forget to safely socialize with close friends or go outside to enjoy nature. My summer consisted of studying for the DAT which meant that a lot of my time was at a desk and in front of a computer. Like many other students, I was under a lot of stress from having to study for the test and also the environmental pressures from being under quarantine. At first, I thought all of my stress was stemming from having to study for the DAT. I thought I was doing fine during the quarantine. However, I realized that my mental health was being ignored by assuring myself that I was fine. By doing so, studying became harder and even more stressful. This led me to become unmotivated and sad. Only by finding the actual problem and acknowledging my mental state was how I started to look at the quarantine in a different way.
I am the type of person who loves to schedule out everything daily. This gives me a sense of control of my time and makes me feel as if I am using my time efficiently. However, I would always forget to incorporate time for myself. Having the stress of studying and the stresses from the quarantine, I pushed myself hard by scheduling my days filled with studying. By the end of the summer, I felt burnt out. Only by the end of the summer I realized how neglectful I became of my own mental health. It became harder as time went by to stay positive and motivated. And as it became harder to stay motivated, I pushed myself even further. When I became mentally exhausted and burnt out, I started reflecting on why I became like this. I realized that I was doing more harm to myself by trying to obsessively take control over my time. I learned that I need to always remember to take care of my mental health and treat it as of importance like physical health. I also learned to adapt myself to my environment. This meant making time to actually go outside for walks, relaxing, and meeting friends safely. By the time fall quarter began, I felt more in control of my mental state than I did at the beginning of summer.
I have always had mainly extroverted friends since high school; I, on the other hand, am introverted. Seeing how they were handling the quarantine made me realize how important socializing is, regardless of whether or not you are extroverted. Talking to my friends about how they are dealing with the quarantine made me realize that human interactions are a necessity to our mental health. Even if that is texting, calling, or video calling, I learned to appreciate social interactions more than I did before the quarantine. I find myself making more efforts to socialize with my close friends by texting and calling them more often. I also think this is very useful to friends that are far away from each other. A lot of my close friends are further away when I am at school, so this was a good way for us to practice long-distance social interactions. Overall, I think that this time was very important to my growth and experience.
- Eliana Kim (Class of 2021, Music)