My advice: Don't overthink your assignments if you can manage it. Our stress can cause us to see things more frantically and we start overassessing our work. It's a dangerous rabbit hole to fall into.
I went through a serious mental health crisis in college and didn't really know where to turn to. Someone recommended student counseling, which I did and was eventually told by the counselor that she didn't know how to help me. Long story short, I dropped out and joined the army. Ended up almost dying in Iraq. Take care of yourselves everyone, and seek out the help you need. Resources are available, so never be too afraid to ask. A big part of my thing after the failures of that specific counselor was that I thought I was on my own. *You're not alone.*
I’m 30 and going back to college for the first time in 8 years this fall, it’s terrifying. It will be online college and I work full time, no clue how it’s going to go.
I'm 31 doing my undergraduate (also living alone/supporting myself etc) - You'll be fine, you'll make it work 🌹 Just make sure to prioritise sleep (having a wind down hour with no screens), & remember how much what we eat/our gut health effects our mental health & pretty much everything else :-p You got this 🌈 Utilise something like Meetup if you wanna meet like-minded new friends who may be in a similar boat... We're not old (even though it feels like it) - Good on you for being brave & not giving up on your dreams... so many do ❤️
You’re going to absolutely SMASH it! Congratulations on taking that first step to broadening your horizon. You’ve got this and I’m so proud of you 💪💁♀️
I had some serious mental health issues come up at the end of my undergrad, right when the pandemic started. I went to the counseling on campus, but they told me they could not help me. I ended up really spiraling and dropping for a semester. My advice to anyone out there struggling: don’t be afraid to look outside of campus for help! Campus is a great place to start, but sometimes they aren’t always the most helpful.
This helped me a lot tonight... had a small panic attack while writing a report thats due tomorrow (typing this at 4 AM) plus I need to talk to my supervisor about it tomorrow... I'm gonna do some meditation now, I think ... :) thanks a lot crash course. I hope that all of you who feel the same or struggle with anything else to find your ways, we're not alone, asking for help is what makes all of us human.
Have realistic expectations. A 4.0 would be great, but it’s simply not always possible. Sometimes taking a course Pass/Fail is a good way to take a little pressure off. And know in advance that you WILL run into that one professor who, with or without good reason, will not give you the credit you deserve. And you WILL run into a class that simply sucks. Maybe it’s poorly taught or disorganized. Sometimes you will find yourself stuck having to work on a project with classmates with whom you do not click. I tended to expect all of my professors and classes to be awesome and all of my grades A+, and that was unrealistic. The result was disillusionment and depression. You want to do your very best and succeed in school, but sometimes you have to cut yourself and everyone else a little slack.
Can’t tell you how much I would have appreciated these videos in college. I didn’t have a good support system, and struggled figuring college life out on my own. Y’all are doing a great thing with this series evening the playing field between people who came from “academic” families and the much larger portion of very talented people that haven’t- and struggle with college as a result.
I'm going back to school in my late twenties to finish my bachelor's and this series has been super encouraging! Thanks for much for all of the work you do, Crash Course team ❤️
I'm from the UK and currently I'm entering my third and final years of college/university, and after almost two years of university, I have of course ventured into a whole new aspect of my life and learnt, discovered and experienced so many incredible things, however I unfortunately had to struggle with my own mental health problems as I have been struggling with social anxiety, depression, mental psychosis and it has led to a lot some of the most terrifying and darkest moments of my life. Mental health is a struggle we all either intentionally or unintentionally can take for granted. Because of that I am so relieved that videos and people like these can educate us all on how to overcome and help one another tackling these problems, and I cannot tell you how cherished I am to know that I don't have to live my life with my problems and even though I still struggle with said conditions today, I am still relieved that I chose to talk to the mental health and well-being department of my campus and come to terms with my problems, and even getting the love and support of my friends and family, who I often feared for a time that they would see me less as their family and more of burden to carry on. If you too are struggling, please know that you are not alone and that you do not need to suffer alone.
Literally graduated this April where was this 2 months ago when I was a thread away from a mental breakdown 😂 All jokes aside remember, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and you'll feel over the moon when you finish! Good luck to all in college rn, and those who will be starting college soon.
Thank you so much for this series! I graduated from college years ago and now work in admissions for that same school. This series has helped me to remember a little bit better what it was like to be a new undergraduate student, including some of the challenges that I faced and the types of resources that I used (or didn't use, but maybe should have). Putting myself back in that mindset helps me to empathize better with our students and-I hope-to do a better job of supporting them so that they can have successful and happy college careers.
Nice note about sleep. My problem is that I sleep too much. I also become 'nocturnal' and spend my nights awake and days asleep. That might sound fine, but the nights just become unproductive. Cool video, I am struggling currently and in college. Wanting to make a change.
You may not have this problem, but in case you're doing the same thing I used to do, I thought I'd msg 🌹 If you're spiking your blood sugar levels before sleep, that tends to make us want to sleep longer (because we feel super untested while our body is hard at work) - If that IS the problem, & its a hard habit to kick, there are certain foods you can have afterwards that help a bit to lower it... Like oats for example 🌈 Also, have you tried using one of those sunrise alarm clocks, that wake you up with natural light? I used to think I was better off not using an alarm, but once I made the switch that helped a lot... Also, always using a blue light filter/blockers (like CareUeyes), even during the day, & maybe starting/ending the day with a burst of exercise if possible? Its really hard, I feel your pain... I used to pull all nighters to try & correct myself back to normal - Which did work, but my natural tendency is to be nocturnal, so tend to always have to put the work in to stay on top of it as well.... Good luck, I'm really sorry for the struggle, but you got this 🌈
My college experience was not the typical one. I didn't start until I was 24 instead of 18 so I was fairly established in early adulthood, but I still wish that I knew a lot of these points!
I also didn't start my college experience right away. I was 23 when I finally went to University. And, I really struggled the first year I went full time. But, eventually I got it sorted out. For me (and this is very specific to me) I had to make a very loud and purposeful decision to myself and anyone who would listen, that I was going to let go of a lot of the things that were taking up my time and focus on getting through school. It worked. I still had bumps, struggles, and one near failed class (TRIGONOMETRY!!!), but I made it. - Nick J.
My advice is to have places to go, to get away from stuff. Have a place where you work, a place where you relax, and a place where you party (whatever that means), maybe all separate from the place you sleep. At my college, most of the buildings were just left open all night, so I would go to the 8th floor of the math building, and just do my homework and studying there. It forced me to do my work, since there was nothing else to do there, and nobody to bother/distract me. And it helps mentally to have separate places for separate roles.
I wish I had been able to protect my mental health in college. I went into a severe psychosis and had to drop out. I lost so much because of that psychosis.
We used to say pain is temporary GPA is forever Don't do that! No grade is worth your health! Get good sleep, eat food, take care of yourself first and foremost, and don't be afraid to reach out for help!
*pulls popcorn from thin air* yes. Thanks. I'm already two years into college, also trying to find effective solutions for this subject, it's always half effective so I hope this video has a perspective that may help me see what I can also amplement and/or didn't already work on _Sleep:_ done (tho it's pretty flexible in the mornings because I can then program diffrent "me" depending on when I woke up, for ex waking up at 5 often means slow productivity, at 9 it means making lunch and studying, at 10 it means mopping the floor and doing some dance) _Space separation:_ done but wasn't maintained intact simply because of lack of technological adaptability (availability of my phone at all time became, as expected, a nuisance but my PC is slow and often causes me to have stress and anger issues) _Food:_ unfortunately it's been the most turbulent with the long commute and trying my best to focus on replenishing on sleep... I do eat but I rarely think quality over minimum calories _Exercice:_ I do at home, this year I am focusing on mobility trying to find a better connection between strength and flexibility! Actually if I had to speak of any goal it'd be doing front splits and a deep squat, I'm really out to be extra aware of my hip placement etc etc... Also to restore the emotional benefits fitness used to give me two years ago but I lost along the way - I had a gym partner for three sessions throughout the year :p _Mindfulness:_ it's actually the theme (as opposed to resolution) of the year for me! I don't know if it did anything really but overall my prefrontal cortex is doing its best regulating my distorted emotional perceptions, it's primarily to deal with disappointment and family issues - talking to strangers is my support system but it feels very uncontrollable so gah _asking for help:_ I've been reading :/ I don't think we have counselling... It's the area I'm the most unsure on how to tackle, forcing myself to go speak about my problems feels bad because it feels like everyone else is pretty much in the same boat
It would have been ... helpful ... perhaps ... if someone had been around to suggest things such as therapy in 1977 when my family of origin was falling to bits during my junior year while I was in denial that I was in a major I was utterly unsuited to and unconsciously despised, so I had what I now recognize was a full-on high-functioning nervous breakdown for a year or so with no support at all. I developed a complete writer's block, flunked three in-major courses in one semester, and tanked my GPA forever. (No graduate school for YOU!) It took another fifteen years before someone important to me got me to go to therapy, which led to a chronic major-depression diagnosis a year later and a lifetime of psychotropic medicines. (Which, btw, worked. I'm now in a better mental space than ever.) But I woulda found it nicer if the last half of the 70s hadn't been so hellacious.
I’ll call out my university right now. Hearing the advice in this video about reaching out for food security and mental health support programs. I go to one of the wealthiest and best funded universities in Canada and they continue to cut their funding for food security programs and not increase the funding for mental health programs every year while continuing to raise fees each year. Do better University of British Columbia! You are located in one of the most expensive cities in the world and the number of your students going hungry and suffering is skyrocketing each year! We are protesting and you do nothing. Wishing everyone a safe safe school experience and that they get the support they need!
I feel like recommending someone see a doctor before starting an exercise program is very very classist. Not everyone "has a doctor" or can see one cheap or easily. It's incredibly unlikely that starting an exercise routine is going to hurt anybody unless they have something specific they are worried about, but even then, exercise is important for those people too.
Eat good food and talk to people in person! I didn't do either for my first year (covid) and it made me miserable and paranoid. Get your nutrients and make friends!
My uni has some of the most subpar food options. But I always try to utilize the salad bar and places that sell healthy smoothie drinks as much as I can bc as an engineering major I NEED that joint 😭😭
I don't know if this has been asked before but... Please make a Nutrition course for beginners! (Does anyone know good free resources on nutrition for a very stubborn person?)
We've CONSTANTLY talked about doing something like that. Maybe not a Crash Course proper, but something that could help people understand nutrition. Or, maybe a Crash Course! Nick J.
I went to college and I learned to NEVER LET THEM EVER FIND OUT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!!!!!! I got suspended for an entire semester twice before I learned to seek help from outside the college system.
No comments yet? This video has been up for hours! Anyway i wish i had been focused on protecting my mental health while I was in college lol... This is all great advice.
I protected my mental health in college by avoiding all those idiots, by studying and working. I had no desire to join in their drugging, drinking, puking, STD parties.
Plenty! Just search for guided meditation here on RU-vid or put it into a search engine. There are also plenty of apps, some of them free. Good luck! :)
7mind or headspace are apps I've used. I personally don't like the breathing patterns in those - I get distracted and bored - even after staying with it for a year. An alternative I recommend is the wim hoff method (plenty instructional videos on RU-vid) or try yoga, eg Yoga with Adriene here on yt. Or just look around and try different things until you find what helps you,
Thank you so much for these series and thank you crash course you provide education on RU-vid online platform thankyou you make breat future in students thankyou
This seems to be paying a lot of attention to symptoms rather than causes of mental health. Also seems like a bit of reinforcing of toxic positivity about the university experience. Honestly I think we could do with a follow-up addressing this kind of issue.
These are good tips for college & all but what about how to adapt with life & balance with mental stress after college when you step into the career lifestyle its no better after school gets done! You just go from dealing one type of stress to another 😩 😪
even though i have also struggled to adapt to college and am on a break, i see so many people even here on youtube (productive day in the life vlogs) that seem to have a balance of work and normal life balance and i just really can't relate to those people so what aspects of college affected your mental health if you don't mind me asking?
Indeed, that is true. I can attest. But, this series is about getting through college, so we're specifically talking about how to do it in college. - Nick J.
Not sponsored by. The video (this whole series) is funded by RU-vid. ASU and Crash Course have partnered together to create this series and other series on the Study Hall channel. So, ASU is not paying for this. They're working with us and we are working with them. A sponsorship is a different thing. Nick J.
There's a difference in the study of psychology and an exercise like meditation and mindfulness. Psychology can study and understand how/why these things are or aren't helpful. From a practical perspective, they're very good at helping people focus and release stress and bad thoughts. I can personally vouch for mindfulness (though one person's experience isn't the be all/end all of the conversation). We, our writers, editors, subject matter experts, etc... all feel like they are smart things to try. Just to see if they work for you. They worked for me and I'd have had a much easier time with things like anxiety and organization if I'd been introduced to them when I was 22... instead of 43. Nick J.
