Hello! I write to you from the summer after my first year at an incredible school. I write to you with 9 months of experience in trial and error, success and failure, studying, socializing, and growing. I write to you with a sense of calm, peace, understanding, and solidity.

But I also write from the heart of someone who battled with herself, with her own mind, for the greater part of those 9 months.

I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression since the beginning of high school. I’ve been on medication, seen counselors, and been to different doctors (all of whom continually told me that this was something I just had to “deal with.”) But the summer before my freshman year I was, for all intents and purposes, “fine.” My anxiety was under control, it had been months since my last depressive episode. I thought the worst was behind me.

The thing with anxiety is, naturally, it’s brought on and triggered by stimuli your body isn’t used to. For example, I don’t know, moving 500 miles away from the only home, family, and friends you’ve ever known.

I was in for a surprise.

After my first few months of being at school, my panic attacks were so frequent and my depression was so bad, I doubted every decision I had made since going to college. Should I have joined a sorority? Did I pick the right one? Why don’t I have 100 friends? Where are my future bridesmaids? Is this even the right university for me? Bless my poor mother for dealing with my multiple phone calls a day, when I would gasp for air between spitting out tears and frantic “I can’t do this anymore”’s. Bless my roommate for simply silently nodding her head when I explained to her why I was on the floor of our bathroom sobbing.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, I have a few pieces of advice from the light at the end of the tunnel.

1. When people tell you you're not alone, believe them.

Whether those words are coming from your mother, the girl in your sorority reaching out to you, or a stranger behind the words on an Odyssey article... they are true. There is so much comfort in grasping the fact that when you feel low and unadjusted and completely isolated in the way you feel, you are not. And while your struggles are unique to you, there are thousands of people who know what it's like to feel unstable. Find solace in that.

2. Keep yourself busy.

I'm sure you've heard it before, but that's because it's proven to be effective. When you don't feel like doing anything, do something. When the only thing you have energy for is laying in bed, take a quick walk, even if it's just halfway across campus to grab a bite to eat. When the girl in your sorority asks you to go to the house with her to eat lunch, say yes. I know it's easier said than done. But get yourself out of bed even if that in and of itself is scary.

3. You are what you say and do.

Radiate positivity. If you're feeling negatively, speak positively. If you're anxious about your first day of class, remind yourself that it will be just fine. There is truth behind the statement "fake it til you make it." If you constantly say that you are in control of your own life, that will become more and more true every day.

4. Seek help if you need it.

It wasn't until a few weeks of nonstop phone calls home that my mom finally stopped me mid-sentence and said (out of love), "Audrey, do something about it." So I called USC's health center and set up an appointment with a psychiatrist on campus. There are trained, qualified professionals whose jobs are to help you with the adjustment period of freshman year, and any other adjustments or trials you face throughout your time at college. Those resources are so valuable (and changed my life).

5. Call home often.

Whether it's your dad, your cousin, or your high school best friend, don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call the person from home that makes your problems dissolve into thin air at the sound of their voice. (I'm talking to you, Mom.) These people care about you, and sometimes you just need to be reminded of the things in your life that are constant and unchanging. And that's okay.

6. College is what you make it.

Whether your class schedule is stressing you out, you're anxious because you feel like you need to have a job, or you're a little unsettled at the current status of your social life, your college experience is whatever you make it to be. This means a few things: not only are you in control of your own life, but you have the responsibility to cultivate the next few years of your life. Choose wisely, and let that guide each decision you make.

7. If you need to stay in, stay in.

Sometimes, even if there's a great party going on down the street, or a watch-party for the away football game at the Student Union, the only thing that you have the ability to do is date night (with yourself) and a season of How I Met Your Mother. That's okay. If you need to stay in, do it. Just don't let that be all you do. If you find the balance between time to yourself, and time out (which may be a challenge), you will be just fine.

8. Just because someone doesn't understand how you feel, doesn't make how you feel invalid.

I'm fortunate enough (if that's how you want to put it?) to have grown up in a family that was no stranger to mental disorders. Anxiety and depression were an understood and talked about thing. But going to school reminded me that, to someone who has never been exposed to those things before, they're really difficult to understand. And when you try telling your best friend that you just can't go out because you can't stop panicking, the problem is rooted deeper than in stressing about what heels to wear with your dress. And try as you might to explain it to her, sometimes it just doesn't click. But that is completely okay. You still feel how you feel. You're not wrong just because someone else doesn't understand you, and that friend doesn't love you any less because of it.

9. Get involved and make your big school small.

This one's important. Whether it's through joining a sorority or fraternity, an on-campus music group, a service organization, or just bonding with the people on your hall, find a way to plug into a group of people that make your big school feel small. It's easy to feel out of place, like a little fish in a big pond, especially if you battle a disorder that already makes you react strongly to any kind of change. But the more you get involved with, the more you're able to find your place, which makes the whole adjustment period go much more smoothly.

10. Have faith.

Have faith in yourself, in your ability to push through a challenging situation. Have faith in your friends and family, in their desire to watch you succeed. Have faith that the best is yet to come. And have faith in the world around you, that will constantly prove it is not nearly as scary as it seems.