The last year has brought some of the hardest moments of my entire life. Both of my grandfathers passed away close to or during finals of both semesters last year. Coming back to school, I couldn’t get into the groove of things. Even though I was surrounded by a wonderful support group of friends, I felt alone. I didn’t want to go to class. I felt anxious all the time. I was literally sick for six weeks. And some of my grades are suffering as a result. I even ended up withdrawing from one of my classes. One day, I realized that I wasn’t going to magically get better. I started going to the University Counseling Center, which was very helpful in getting me to at least acknowledge my problems—I couldn’t run away from them anymore, I had to cope.
On a slightly different note, my Granny is a health nut. She used to run weight loss clinics across the country and constantly tries to shove all sorts of natural vitamins, extracts, minerals, and oils down my throat. She had been seeing a lot recently about the benefits of Vitamin D in various articles and shows. Aside from building bone strength, it actually can increase your serotonin levels, mimicking the effects of many antidepressants. She knew about the trouble I had been having, and like a good grandma, she sent some to me in the mail.
For an assignment in a different class I had to create my own website. I decided to do some further research on this whole Vitamin D and depression business and turned up some really interesting information. For all the specifics you should check out http://www.ashleynorred.com/.
Despite everything she told me and everything I found, I haven’t started taking the Vitamin D, so I can’t actually tell you if it works or not. But as I mention on my website, I think what most students are missing is a purely fun, non-school related hobby. GW is full of some of the most career oriented students I have ever seen, and I think everyone could use a chill pill. On my website, I mention the fact that I went and bought some painting supplies. That was the first step, and it took me a while to actually sit down and paint. But this weekend that’s exactly what I did. I sat on the ground for 7 hours and just created something. It didn’t have a deep meaning. And I didn’t finish what I was trying to do. But it felt good to not worry about anything else and simply focus all my energy on something I thoroughly enjoyed.
-Ashley Norred
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