The Johnsonian asked Winthrop students why mental health is important during the spring semester.
Kyan Feser
Staff Writer
Photo by Kyan Feser
Ayden Cottingham, Jordan Schwamb, Sophia Cardin
Whether you’re a Winthrop Eagle or any other college student, April is a looming cloud over the freedom of summer.
Despite the gorgeous weather, now more than ever, Winthrop students need to get serious, as April marks the beginning of exam season. It’s important to hunker down and hit the books, but maintaining adequate mental health is an often-overlooked priority.
“It’s really a lot of people’s make it or break it time,” said Jordan Schwamb, an elementary education major.
Alongside studying, students might S/U courses, search for summer jobs, or register for the upcoming semester at this time. All of this at once is often overwhelming, Schwamb said.
It might seem hopeless, but there are strategies to stay afloat inside this ocean of responsibility.
Firstly, keeping track of deadlines is a must, even if it’s cliché.
“Knowing that I’m behind on something or not knowing how much I have left to do is a really big pain point for me,” said Mark Bontempo, a graphic design major.
Spring might be crazy, but planning your assignments spares you some of the stress, he explained. If you allow deadlines to pile up, you might end up burning out.
“If you’re having a really bad time right now, it’s gonna carry over into the fall, and I think that’s a really bad way to start it,” said Natalia Barthel, a religion major.
Additionally, these burnouts are often worse during the spring semester, said Ayden Cottingham, a mass communications major.
“I think it’s important for students to realize that while school is important, your mental health has to come first because you might not be able to bounce back in the future if you burn out too much. You might fizzle out one final time.”
To manage schoolwork, Cottingham suggests being honest with classmates or your professors, making sure to attend office hours when you can. “If you sit one-on-one with your teacher, tell them you’re struggling, they will help you every which way they can,” he said.
“It might be embarrassing, but embarrassment is so small compared to struggling mentally.”
Outside of just schoolwork, we can subdue the overwhelm with self-care, said Reagan Arxer, a social work major.
While everyone “throws around the word self-care a lot,” it’s about taking the time to do things that you love while still having the time to study, she explained.
Sophia Cardin, a political science major, said this care is important for students, as we’re at transitional points in our lives and can easily feel lost.
“I think it’s super important to keep mental health as a number one priority because it’s really easy to get caught up in not knowing what you’re going to do and not giving as much effort as you should because of that,” she said.
It’s easy to think you’re behind seeing young people on social media, “but you have to cut yourself some slack at the end of the day.”
Part of cutting yourself slack is sitting with your emotions, and recognizing your humanity, said James Amaker II, a commercial music major.
“A thing I’ve learned over my growth as a person is not being afraid to feel the emotions,” he said.
“We were told to suppress the bad feelings, but ultimately it’s still a feeling; the more you suppress things, the more it comes back later on.”
Finally, “you gotta remember the reason why you’re doing it,” said Jason Grimes, a mass communications major.
As students, we often forget why we are in college and how these years are stepping stones for our futures. We worked hard to be here, and we deserve the best outcomes.
“While hard times feel like they’re hard now, when you look back at it, they’re gonna be a breeze in the wind,” he said.
“It really wasn’t that bad then.”
