advice for your Freshman Year Mental health
As you step into college, mental health is a factor that you should always keep an eye on. Freshmen year is a complex time of immense growth. Everything is new, and you’ll be faced with situations that you will not know how to handle, and that is ok. The freshman journey all about finding peace among the noise, so here are four tips to take care of yourself as you walk through this time.
ONE: learn to sit with yourself and enjoy your own company. College is all about being social, but you will also have many moments where you have to rely on yourself. Being comfortable with yourself is a skill that is so vastly important but one that many people never learn. Pick up new hobbies, take yourself out to eat, go for a walk, and generally do what you love. You do not have to wait on someone to go do something you want to do, you can just go do it yourself. Once you learn this skill, it feels like a whole new freedom has been unlocked within yourself. As simple as this may sound, it’s something I wish I learned to do far earlier in my college career.
TWO: Community can help guide you through the most difficult of times, so search for that perfect fit. Always be looking for people that love you for you. Don’t just cling on to the first people you find, go out and explore clubs, talk to people in class, and look for events to attend. Go find your people while understanding that it may take a couple tries and time. Your community is your support system, so lean on people that will keep you going.
THREE: Learn how to forgive yourself. College is a whole new world, so you’ll make some mistakes along the way. Being caught up on the past just inhibits your ability to be present. Be able to show yourself grace throughout this time. Messing up is all a part of the process, so don’t demand perfection from yourself, just keep stepping forward.
FOUR: Finally, be blunt with yourself. We often feel such difficult emotions but stow them away and ignore the issue. If you feel like you are in a bad place, admit it to yourself so that you can admit it to others. The strongest thing you can do is call for help, and you’ll be amazed how many people are willing to help you in your time of need. Mental health can be like an infection, the longer it gets left untreated, the worse the sickness spreads. Deal with it when it arises so you don’t suffer unnecessarily.
Stepping into college is confusing, complex, difficult, and often just not what you expected it to be, but you must embrace it. Embrace this time of growth in your life and watch as you change into a totally different person. I struggle to recognize myself just a year ago, much less myself during freshmen year. So as you go through this change, lean on God and your community. Mental health isn’t a battle that can be beaten alone. The quicker you learn that lesson, the quicker you see change. You’re not going to have everything figured out when you get here, and you probably won’t ever have it all figured out.
So when the noise becomes overwhelming, breathe, pray, and find beauty in the ugliness.
Written by Carter Groff, past BCM student graduate 2025