First off I want to start with a disclaimer. I did not ask for help when I should have, I did not ask for help or reach out to people who loved me or cared for me during some of my darkest days, and I did not realize the support I had and instead secluded myself even more. But what I can say is I should have done all of those things. Trust me as someone who has been through some of the darkest days in her life in the past year, I can confidently say that I know how much easier it is to say this rather than actually do it. But, if this is a sign to absolutely ANYONE reading this, please find a safe space and a safe person to talk to if you are going through anything. You ARE amazing, you ARE loved, and you ARE NOT alone.

First semester sophomore year was by far the worst year of my entire life, my closest friendship at the time had abruptly ended in a very unpleasant way, school felt more difficult for me than ever, I was unsure about who I was as a person and who I wanted to become, and in all honesty, I felt like there was no light in my life. I was able to go about what was required of me but I had absolutely no motivation to even leave my bed for the simplest thing such as going out to dinner with friends or even hanging out with my roommates. The problem for me was the fact that I was unable to admit to myself what was truly going on in my life and I just continued to live my life pretending that I was completely fine on the outside when I was crumbling on the inside.

This brings me to the part of my story where I finally confided in someone about what was going on with me. I finally felt like I was slowly getting better when one day while at dinner with my parents, I literally just blurted it out, "Mom and Dad, I have been struggling really badly with my mental health and I need help." I almost started sobbing my heart out in the middle of a restaurant which by far was not the best place to really open the can of worms but it happened all so fast and so subconsciously it was like my body was forcing myself to just say it.

I am so blessed that my parents were so here to be there for me and help me out with everything that I was facing. That night and the next one my dad and I had some long and somewhat painful discussions about everything that I had been going through and I was finally able to be so transparent and honest with him that I felt this massive weight being lifted off my shoulders.

The moral of this story is that in the end, my body forcing me to tell my parents who were so amazing and there for me was such a pivotal moment in my life and was so important in helping me to get out of my dark spell and work towards achieving some happier times and days. If you are reading this and feel that you are going through some rough times, take this as a sign to tell someone you care about or call a hotline. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but of a major sign of strength.