Last fall I was officially diagnosed with high functioning anxiety. For years I have known that I have shown symptoms of having anxiety but never went about getting it under control until things in my life got worse. With my anxiety, it gets to a point of where I feel paralyzed in my bed from fear of overthinking or fear of the unknown. But with the help of ISU counseling and my amazing family, I have been able to keep my anxiety at bay. Of course there are no perfect days without a little bit of anxiousness, but for the most part, I have been able to function normally and get copious amounts of work done! It may sound easier said than done but when you have anxiety, the best thing you can do for yourself is to shut out the opinions of other people. You should definitely take into consideration those opinions of the people who matter such as close friends and family members, but you should never let another person's thoughts or actions determine what you decide to do with your life.

If I could give one piece of advice to someone with anxiety, it would be to do things that make YOU happy.

This semester I have been working towards improving my mental health by going to the gym, hanging out with good friends, joining registered student organizations related to my major and just truly enjoying my last semester at ISU. This past year, it has definitely tested my patience when it comes to practically anything but it's all about improving our mental health skills so that when we leave our universities and move on to bigger milestones such as graduate school, professional school, or getting a grown-up job right after getting our bachelors degree. Never let any roadblock that is thrown your way at any point in your life define your future success and goals.

There have been many times where I felt like giving up not only in high school but also in college to the point of where I have called myself a failure but eventually you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel when things start to go right such as passing an exam, getting a good grade on a paper or accomplishing all that you wanted to get done in a week!

Never let your anxiety define who you are. Before I ever developed anxiety in college, I remember being such a happy go lucky person (which I still am), I woke up everyday feeling ready to take on any obstacles that were going to be put in front of me and I never went to bed feeling upset with myself because I knew that tomorrow is always a new day and a clean slate to work with. Most of my friends that I have made in college knew that I had anxiety before I was officially diagnosed with it because of the certain behaviors I would have when it was close to a test day, had a lot of assignments to complete, was working a lot of hours or just felt down in the dumps. But they never associated my mental state with the definition of who I am as a person for the most part.

Beneath my anxiety, I am still that happy-go-lucky girl who is always down for a good laugh, a movie night and playing some rounds of what are the odds with friends! You are more than your mental health status, and more importantly, you are worth more than what you think you deserve or what you consider your own worth to be.