As someone who has struggled with their mental health in the past, I believe that anything I can do to make things easier on someone else makes it (more) worth it. Over the years, I have done hundreds of hours of therapy, switched majors, taken time off school, worked full-time, and returned better than ever!

I wanted to share some of my knowledge for the listicle assignment and remind myself what to do when my final semester inevitably gets hectic.

Before turning to Google, I sat on my couch in my tiny one-bedroom apartment and meditated on the lessons I had learned. From doing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), healthy behavioral decisions have been ingrained in me. The first things that came to mind were eating well, sleeping, and exercising. The latter is something I have adamantly fought my parents on while being a varsity athlete in high school and continuing to work out 3-5 days a week as a college student.

When things get stressful, exercise and eating well are the first things to go for me. I somehow justify that I do not have the time, when I cognitively know that I am not doing myself any favors but skipping out on them.

For the first item in my listicle, I wanted to highlight the importance of exercise with some data to back it up. To me, one of the best deals as a college student has to be the Auburn Rec Center’s Class Pass. For $50 a semester, you get access to all of their workout classes. Especially where I am from, if you only use it twice, it pays for itself. Signing up for a class and committing beforehand keeps you accountable.

Therapy and taking care of your mental health is a journey. A journey I have been on for ten years. Even though doing one session will not fix things overnight, starting the process is the next thing I thought of on the journey to mental health stability. I began by compiling a list of mental health resources.

As a big foodie, I knew I had to include a shorter listicle of restaurants around Auburn that I love you.

I wanted to include the following overarching concepts: social time, getting outside, ensuring you get enough Vitamin D, and mindfulness.

Most importantly, and the last thing to remember, is the importance of sleep. I do believe that some people need less rest than others!

This was my thought process and research steps for creating this assignment.