College students experience a large amount of pressure during their young adult life.
College students are expected to have a job, good grades, internships and be involved in multiple organizations. The students that can do all this are often glorified, but they only amount to about five to ten percent of college students.
The other 90 to 95 percent of college students focus only on academics. These are the students the only show up to what’s required of them. The students that only go to class at a designated time and may only do one or two things outside of class. These are also the students that do not go to class or do their work.
Mental health is a concern that is amongst all college students. Whether it is the student that is on every executive board, or the student that only goes to class and does the bare minimum, they share the commonality that life and college become very stressful very quickly.
According to the American Psychological Association, anxiety is the top concern for college students, followed by depression.
Most college students are not accessing their full potential at this pivotal moment of their life and end up wasting their time.
The depression and anxiety that cripples college students each semester is a growing problem. The main side effect of depression and anxiety is a lack of motivation. This lack of motivation is what causes many college students to fail.
People assume we are lazy, but in reality, we are struggling.
Tony Jackson, senior sports science student, can relate to both types of students. Jackson is currently a motivational speaker as well as a fitness trainer, but he has not always been like this.
Tony describes his early college career as a “roller coaster ride.” He struggled with going to class, doing school work, and making good decisions. It was when Jackson changed his mindset that he was able to develop motivation that will project for him to graduate in December 2018.
“I’m naturally passionate, but I get bored. That was one of the problems with me and school. I’m passionate about all these other things, but chemistry. I just had to realize that even though I’m not passionate about chemistry, it is a part of the process was a part of the process,” Jackson said.
Jackson will be hosting his first motivational summit on Saturday, April 28, called “Apply Pressure.” His point of emphasis at the summit is to not just be motivated but figuring out how to put that into practice and creating daily habits.
Jackson is not the only student like this. Colby Cornell, a senior marketing/sales student, is the founder of Trust Your Journey Inc. After struggling with his own mental health, and two suicide attempts, Cornell created a non-profit that would promote positive mental health, personal development, and travel.
He has had many events on campus with his latest being a panel discussion that happened earlier this month.
Jackson and Cornell are both seniors, and although their businesses will continue, other students will need to speak up on the importance of mental health. Health and counseling services are always an options, but students like to hear from other students’ testimony.
