I recently just graduated college. I hope it’s okay, but I wanted to add somethings that I picked up. (I have mental illnesses and I believe I have inattentive ADHD, but I’m still working on a diagnosis for that. We love insurance problems, ugh.) Some are about organization, but I also threw in a few overall tips for health:
21. Get a dish or hook for your keys. Put your shoes/glasses/important stuff in the same spot. Trust me, when the fire alarm goes off at 3am in the middle of winter, you’ll want to know where everything is. I lose stuff a lot. I have no sense of object permanence. Bowls, hooks, and other organizational items helped me a lot to keep track of the stuff I use most. I have a bad memory and lose stuff all the time. I used to panic when I couldn’t find my keys, but usually it’s my brain playing tricks on me. After I got a hook, I knew that the keys were either in my backpack or on my hook. It helped relieve so much anxiety I had about losing stuff. The second I got home my keys were on the hook and I never moved them unless I was leaving.
22. Do not be afraid to ask for extensions or work-arounds. I was terrified to do so for a long time. I eventually did and I ended up getting a few extensions. One was because of a technology issue and the other one was because of a physical health issue. In college marching band, I spent half an hour with my director hashing out how I’d still perform while I physically couldn’t walk without being in pain. He worked with me because he knew I couldn’t work as hard and as long as everyone else. He told me that if I needed to sit out that I could, no questions asked. Good professors will want to see you succeed and will help modify a schedule for you. They do not want to see you in pain or under mounts of stress. If you show professors that you want to be there, chances are they will give you an extension or sit down with you to work something out that will help you succeed. They’ve been there before, after all.
23. Check your campus’s health facilities. Do they have student insurance? What do students say about the facilities? What do they offer? How much does everything cost? I ended up getting 3 X-Rays done there for only a total of $90. ($30 a piece. It was the most expensive thing they had and it wasn’t covered by student insurance.) I was in pain for 3 weeks because I was afraid to go. Like, when I went in for my first appointment, the doctors were like “Wtf how are you still walking? You should’ve come three weeks ago. Your knees are completely swollen.” I didn’t go for so long because I was terrified of what they’d say or that they couldn’t help me. I ended up only spending $35 on that visit. I spent $115 in total. And that was on 3 X-Rays for my knees and 5 bottles of prescription medicine/3 rounds of prescriptions. I know my school doesn’t have the same stuff as others and that some stuff they can’t do, but give it a shot. Utilize it. (Hell, utilize the stuff you pay for. Everything. The gym, the library, etc. Utilize it ALL.)
24. Prioritize sleep over study. If you study all night, chances are that, what you studied will not be remembered come the test. This is because sleep helps solidify short-term memory. Also, you are more at-risk to catch illnesses when you get too little of sleep. Trust me. I got sick so frequently my first semester at my 4-year university. Prioritize sleep.
25. Find a community. You are alone a LOT in college. It’s something a lot of people don’t realize until a few weeks into classes. I felt so lonely all the time. Sure, you may have a roommate, but you’re still just alone a lot. You go to class alone, you shop alone, you do a lot of things alone. I felt as if my social anxiety would make it impossible for me to make a connection in college. One of the best things I did was join marching band and other music clubs - stuff outside my major. I majored in English. When I graduated, I had a sorority to call my home and a mellophone section that I love to pieces. It helped my mental health so so much. A lot of them are in my safety net.
26. Find a safety net. These are people who you can trust to help you if you need help. During my last year of community college, my mental health spiraled out so bad. The only reason I think I’m still alive is because I had a safety net. These can be people you met at college, profs, hometown friends, family, etc. Trust me, college is a weird place. And, trust me, profs are there for you. The person who helped me the most in my mental health recovery was someone I least expected - one of my profs. Find a safety net. Be in contact with them. You don’t have to let them know they’re in your safety net. But having a safety net was so important for me, as a mentally ill college student. I can’t tell you how many times talking to a friend just got me out of a panic attack or distracted me. (Just don’t use them as your personal therapist. If you feel like you need to go to therapy, see if your college has a mental health facility and use it.) Also, if you have a medical emergency, physical or mental, these will be people you or someone else can contact. (If they are one of your emergency contacts, I would tell them tho.)
26.5. Also, a lot of people struggle with mental health in college. Hell, I was in a non-fic class and I can’t tell you how many days we got off track because it was just us talking about our mental health, therapist experiences, and what it is like recovering. You are not alone.
27. Get a weekly and/or monthly whiteboard calanders. (I’m talking about those whiteboards that look like unfinished calanders.) I had three - one weekly calander and two monthly ones. I inherited these from my sister after she graduated school.
The weekly one I hung up on my wall. The whiteboard itself was blank, but I bought a weekly planner magnet from Dollar Tree to stick on the whiteboard. I used it to write out my classes, when I worked, when I had chapter, and when I had marching band. It made planning a lot easier. I used abbreviations because that calander had small compartments. But it helped me prioritize and see upcoming events.
The first monthly whiteboard was for my own use. I wrote down what events I had coming up, when to go to the store, and when I was going home. The second monthly calander I put out for my roommate and I to use. This is where I wrote what bills we had due and we would write when we were going home. (I lived in a university apartment, so my stuff is a bit different.)
I also had two other whiteboards - both blank/had magnets. One was to write out all my classes, what homework I had, and when the assignments were due. I crossed them out when I finished them. I also used it to write down homework for my internship and call times for marching band. It was a whiteboard for all my deadlines.
The other whiteboard I used to write down what I needed when I went to the store and the other half of the board I used to write down stuff I either needed to take home or bring to college. I would then take a pic of it and take it to the store with me. (I couldn’t use the notes app on my phone because I legit would forget I had it and forget stuff all the time.) I also clipped my roommate’s check to this whiteboard whenever she paid me for electricity (I paid for it in full and she would pay me back). That way I wouldn’t lose it.
(I know that’s a lot of whiteboards, but that was the ONLY way I could stay sane. 10/10 would recommend.) Color-coded sticky notes also work. Color code them for class, other types of responsibilities (laundry, shopping, etc), or for reminders. Highlight stuff. Do whatever you need to remember stuff.
28. Keep 3 types of kits:
- A mini first-aid kit for your backpack. This can have Band-Aids, tissues, ibuprofen, and hand sanitizer. Trust me, you’ll need all those at some point. Also, always carry around a water bottle.
- A larger first-aid kit for your room. This can have more stuff like creams, gauze, aloe vera, etc. Trust me, you’ll want a first aid kit. I can’t tell you how many accidents I had where I ended up hobbling over to my bathroom sink and dragging out the box. I’m a clumsy person, I used that kit at least a few times a month.
- A mental health emergency box/sensory box. Put whatever you need in it. In mine I had: a fidget cube/fidget spinner, earbuds, 3 types of silly puddy/Play-Doh, a notebook and pencil, a stress ball, earplugs, and other sensory items. I regretted not making one of these boxes sooner. I also recommend keeping the phone numbers of your friends/safety net taped to the lid in case you need someone to talk to. I also recommend dropping one or two of these items into your bag - ones you can use in class without being a distraction. I brought my fidget cube to class a lot.
29. Prioritize your health! Be in contact with your profs if your class impacts your health! In college marching band, I ended up sidelined almost every single rehearsal because I legit couldn’t walk without being in pain/couldn’t make it through a 2 hour rehearsal standing the entire time. I made my pain worse/forced myself to march because I was so worried about missing out on my final marching band season/worried about falling behind. My director and the staff told me time and time again to prioritize my health over the visuals. Like, there were days they beat me over the head with that point because they KNEW I was in pain and wanted me to sit out. I ended up being in contact with the director, staff, drum majors, and my section leader a lot and I told all them what the doctors told me so they knew why I was doing what I was doing. I was in contact with the director a lot because my health issues impacted my involvement in class. My medications had to be taken during class and I couldn’t do certain activities (run, jump, etc) that impacted my involvement in class. My involvement had to be altered because I physically couldn’t do what everyone else did. (Like to the point that my drill was altered so the movements wouldn’t cause further injury.) Take that lesson and apply it to your classes. You will experience horrible burnout and mental fatigue if you prioritize your schoolwork over health. I cannot tell you how many times I experienced burnout because of it. Like I said, good professors will understand. They will help you and/or sit down with you and make alterations to your classwork or schedule. Good professors want to see you thrive. This kinda goes with another one of my points. But never push yourself too hard to the point where you ignore your physical and mental health. Advocate for yourself. As someone with social anxiety and a humongous fear of being rejected/ridiculed, this was something that was hard for me. But, believe me, it is SUPER important.
Your body is a priority. Treat it like it. Your body knows when something isn’t right. Listen to it and don’t be afraid to talk to your profs about changing your schedule/coursework in a way that prioritizes your health.
30. Take breaks when you study or do homework. I know so many days I would do homework from 4pm-11pm. With no break. Do not make your meals a treat you have to earn. Schedule your meals. DO NOT MAKE MEALS A TREAT YOU HAVE TO EARN. I cannot stress how unhealthy of a mindset that can become. Take a 15 minute break every hour to stretch and look away from the computer screen. I promise you, you’ll get more work done when you take scheduled breaks. Set a timer so you don’t get distracted and forget about your assignments. You’ll get more done when you give yourself time to move around. Also make sure to take a break before bed.
32. If you’re like me and can’t function in a quiet environment, open a livesteam. A livesteam with music. “Cafe Music BGM channel” on YouTube is one I love to use. It’s just instrumental music - no lyrics to get me distracted. It satisfies my need for needing background noise and it isn’t distracting. That channel doesn’t have ads and, if you play a livesteam, you usually don’t have to deal with changing to a different video. Check to see what works well with you - there are a ton of white noise videos. Just remember to wear headphones if you’re in a room with others!
32. Celebrate! During my sophomore year of community college, I finally went to therapy. I marked that day as my second birthday because, well, it marked the beginning of my recovery. It marked a very life-changing moment. Every year, I buy one of those small birthday cakes from Walmart. I eat half of it while watching a show I like. The next day I finish the cake while watching that same series. (This anniversary spans two days for reasons.) Celebrate your milestones. College is stressful - make sure that you celebrate your successes. You worried other people might think you’re weird? Trust me, nothing is weird in college. College is so weird. If it makes you happy or if it is a success for you, celebrate it! I’m almost 3 years into recovery and 2 years clean from self-harm. I celebrate both those dates because they were life-changing events. Celebrate you in a way that you want. 💞
