College is hard. So, if you’re attending college now or planning on enrolling, I applaud you for it. The entire experience is designed to push you to be ready to enter the professional world. When I entered college, I was not only expected to take on this new educational burden, but also shoulder new responsibilities as an adult.
Living away from home and planning my schedule, I was also trying to eat healthy, make new friends and just do my laundry. All of these were new things that were thrust upon me at 18 — on top of taking a challenging course load. While I wasn’t completely new at taking care of myself, being away from home was a major change, one that had an impact on my mental health. This is something I only realized when I was able to be home with family during the beginning of the pandemic. The juxtaposition between my fast-paced life at school and the relaxed pace of the pandemic changed my priorities. I took time to get to know myself and which methods would help me stay focused and healthy.
Kelley Business Majors
HOW I MAINTAIN MY MENTAL HEALTH
I realized I need friends and family in my life to support me when I need them. I am more extroverted than introverted, so I enjoy being around people when I can. This means spending time with my roommates or getting FaceTime with my sister can mean the difference between a good day and a bad one. Through the pandemic, I’ve also learned that while I do enjoy my own personal space, too much time away from loved ones actually has a negative effect on my mental health. In addition, I’ve picked up some strategies over the years that I will keep with me. For example, I love reading, I always have. Once entering college, I noticed that I didn’t have the time to read for fun anymore. So now I try to schedule nights for a reading break whenever I can. Doing something enjoyable and relaxing, like reading, helps center me after a stressful day.
Another step to staying healthy is learning when to ask for help or for a break. Sometimes, school and life can get too stressful. You might be dealing with family problems, plodding through a rough financial time, or enduring health issues that impact your ability to go to class. Dealing with that on your own might be too tough; in the long run, it can make the problems worse. While I rely on my friends and family for help, this might not be an option for you. Always remember that you have options. Work with faculty and staff to figure out extensions or ways to make up assignments. Find a licensed professional to talk things through and figure out a treatment plan if needed. And never underestimate the power of a break from school if the pressures get to be too much.
Throughout my last year in college, I realized that I was experiencing classic burnout symptoms. I no longer felt motivated in school. I didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment anymore for doing well on tests or achieving in my extracurriculars. I was doubting myself and I grew anxious at even the thought of starting my law school applications. I decided what was best for me would be to wait a year before attending law school like I had planned. Just the decision to take a break and refocus on what I was passionate about turned my outlook on life around completely. I can now look forward to my accomplishments and enjoy my final year at IU instead of worrying about what was coming next. I will spend the year off working in a field that both interests me and helps my future career. And with the added free time, I will be able to put all my effort into law school applications.
Jordan Davis, Senior at IU Kelley studying Marketing
JORDAN’S STORY
Jordan Davis, a friend and peer, has helped me realize is the power of saying no. As business students, there is a pressure to pack your schedule full of hard classes, extracurriculars, and leadership positions. We prepare for internship interviews and find ways to build our network through clubs and organizations. Every opportunity feels like it could be the chance of the lifetime to change your career path.
While business school and Kelley provide many growth opportunities, you can’t do it all. Jordan realized this during her freshman and sophomore years when she was being stretched in various directions. Jordan says that setting personal boundaries has been integral to maintaining her mental health. She finds time to take breaks and breathe instead of squeezing meetings into every time slot available. When a request is made of her time that doesn’t add value into her life, she has the confidence say no! She had now been able to devote more time into things she enjoys like traveling and has time to prioritize herself. I encourage you to apply this lesson to your own life and learn when saying no is the best option.
APPLY IT TO THE BUSINESS WORLD
You might be wondering what this has to do with business. Being self-aware is one aspect of mental health. You will be a more desirable candidate in the workforce pool with self-awareness, one core soft skill. Recruiters don’t just look at grades, they look at the interpersonal skills you have developed that will make you a more valuable team member: leadership, problem-solving and critical thinking. Just picture two candidates for an internship at a financial consulting firm. Both have good grades and sterling resumes. One candidate, however, is confident when answering the question, “Describe how you work on a team.” That’s because this person has taken the time to reflect after group assignments and assess how they work best their peers. The other candidate won’t perform as well during this question because they haven’t looked at themselves more closely. The interviewer might place more value in the candidate with emotional intelligence since the work will be more team-driven throughout the internship.
Kelley has prepared me for this reality during leadership classes. Through developmental tests like the Myers-Briggs assessment, I have been taught the importance of emotional intelligence. In business, you’ll face stressful situations that test your mental state. Building the right skill set now to keep yourself healthy can mean the difference between success and burnout. You may be entering a fast-paced industry like Investment Banking or dream of becoming a top executive. The hard skills, which are the measurable abilities you learn in business school, are crucial to ensuring you can succeed in those areas. However, those hard skills are only as effective as your soft skills. Over time, your emotional intelligence will ensure that people will like, trust, and follow you in a collaborative work environment.
Maintaining a quality mental health state isn’t easy and there is no quick fix for a bad one. You need to be active in ensuring that you are physically and mentally healthy. Just how one sit up won’t give you instant abs, one meditation session won’t cure all of your problems. Mental health is a constant journey of self-awareness and action steps. “I want to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company” is a long-term goal that seems daunting to make and could cause you to feel stressed and overwhelmed. Make personal goals for yourself that are achievable and measurable. And above all, take time to learn yourself. My advice might not resonate with you because these might not be issues you are dealing with. But whatever it is, take time to check in with your mental state so you can be healthy inside and out.
Now I leave the question with you; What are some methods that you use to stay healthy?
Vivienne Monger is a senior at Indiana University Bloomington. She is double majoring in public policy and law, ethics and decision making, with a minor in political science. She has aspirations of attending law school after undergraduate school. She has always been a passionate leader, taking on leadership positions whenever she can. Throughout her life, she has always believed in helping those less fortunate than her, as an obligation and not a choice. She has embodied this through her volunteer work and further through her future career aspirations.
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