Congratulations! You made it through another semester and you’re 1 step closer to getting a degree in a field that you love! College is difficult enough for the majority of students, but adding a mental illness into the mix makes it 10 times harder. You have to juggle your classes, homework, a job, and a social life while trying to maintain your mental health. Therefore, I’m very proud of you for making it through another semester.

Finals week is the toughest week of the entire semester, so I’m here to remind you that it will be over in a few short days. I encourage you to study and do your very best, but more than that, I encourage you to put your mental health first. It won’t do you any good if you push yourself so hard that you crack, so don’t put your mental health on the back burner. Take a deep breath and do your best, but make sure to take time to just relax.

Whether you suffer from depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or any other mental illness, your ability to successfully function on a daily basis is constantly being tested. Maybe you’re suffering through a particularly bad depressive episode. This can make it incredibly difficult to get out of bed, let alone drag yourself to class and face all of your responsibilities. If you managed to do all of this, I applaud you. If you couldn’t find the motivation to do anything but get out of bed most days, I’m still proud of you because that takes a lot of energy. Even if you didn’t make it out of bed, I’m still proud of you because you survived and you are here.

I understand how overwhelming college and having responsibilities as an adult can be, especially with a mental illness, so you should pat yourself on the back for making it through another semester and another year. Maybe you managed to face your mental illness everyday, fight through it, and come out on the other side with straight As, financial stability, and a good social life. Maybe you’re ending the semester with a not-so-great GPA and a social life that has a lot of room for improvement because all you could manage to do this semester was not die. Either way, you have a reason to celebrate and you should be proud of yourself.

So, here’s to all of my fellow mentally ill college students! We certainly have our work cut out for us, but we can do it. Heck, we

have done it! Whether you would chalk this semester up to a great success or a bit of a trainwreck, I’m proud of you and you should be proud of yourself too because you survived. If that’s not a reason to celebrate, then I don’t know what is.