The Art of Complaining

As a person who has recently come to terms and been diagnosed with depression, severe anxiety, and OCD, the lack of mental health awareness or acknowledgement through the University is really disappointing and I know hits home for a lot of people. The fact that the majority of college students are overworked, burnt out, and extremely stressed makes these “mental health” days just insulting. And honestly being officially a part of the mental health community just increases the insult and genuinely bothers me, and I’m sure many others as well. I understand the issues of Covid are there when it comes into the decision of getting rid of spring break and picking 3 random days in the middle of the week versus a Monday or Friday, but come on, the University could do better. I know that can show my hindsight bias because obviously now we know it was not the best decision, but honestly I (and majority of the University population including students, faculty, and staff) could have said that there were better ways to go about this. These “mental health” days also show the lack of trust the University has in its students that they couldn’t give us a spring break or just 3 long weekends. Ironic that the University doesn’t trust its students to make good decisions when admissions chose us and likes to preach that the University has the smartest and most supreme students. Lol.

I understand that Covid has been a bigger overarching concern in not just the world but the University specifically and that we do have to pick our fights cause we can’t fight them all at one time. Mental health is such a growing concern among college students yet the University and in my opinion adults, in general, like to pretend mental health issues don’t exist. If the University would take one moment to listen to what the students and faculty need then maybe the majority of the students wouldn’t be so angry and hurt about how this past year has been handled. I get that the University can’t take everyone’s opinions into consideration but sometimes you have to sacrifice certain things for the mental health of students.

We are drowning.

We are struggling.

We are overworked.

We are exhausted.

We are ignored.

Yet, no one listens.

No one cares.

While there are some professors who have really tried and cared to listen to students and do their best to make this scary and stressful time easier, the majority of the professors act like nothing is wrong. I don’t care that people believe that this is the new norm. It is not the new norm and even if it is the new temporary norm, change is still difficult and there should be more compassion and leeway given to these unprecedented (yes I know we all hate this word but it is true) times.

I don’t care that we went through this at this time last year, that doesn’t make it any less overwhelming just because we’ve been doing this for 1 year now. The University needs to take time to acknowledge that mental health is a major issue among the University population and it cannot be ignored. Pretending that prevalent issues do not exist, does not make them go away. We are asking to be listened to and acknowledged. The University just needs to admit that they were wrong in this decision of getting rid of spring break and giving us these bs “mental health” days. We are struggling and we need help. With all of the craziness going on in this world right now, everyone is stressed and nervous about the present and the future. The University needs to do their research and listen and start taking steps in the right direction.

You were wrong.

And that's okay. Just don’t pretend like you’re superior to your students and faculty. You would be nothing without us. We are a community that is supposed to grow together and lift each other up, not ignore and push people and problems under the rug.

Do better.

https://www.disability.illinois.edu/health/mental-health-resources