3 Simple Practices to Support Your Mental Health During Uni
With a total of 6 years in the university system, having done both a bachelors and a masters, I feel like I’ve got some experiences and practices to share. Ironically, I also studied psychology and psychotherapy/counselling, so it was a get-to-know-yourself course that really forced me to consider my mental health journey.
My ups and downs taught me a few things.
Your knowledge of your campus matters. It makes you create a sense of community and give you much more opportunity to connect with likeminded people.
Managing your expectations is key to you not feeling like a failure. Understand and visualise where you want to be, and consider how much effort you will need to put in, to get the marks you want/need.
Keep up with your social life because that’s what makes these years fun. Just studying without the fun is soul-crushing, don’t do that to yourself, make an effort to keep connected with loved ones.
For obvious reasons I’m going to based this blog on my experience of both my Bachelors in Psychological Science at ACU, and Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy, at ACAP.
Get To Know The Campus.
Make use of your campus,
it’s the place you should get to know properly to create connections. If you have goals around creating change, or networking to a great role, it’s a great way to create genuine relationships. Speak to the educators, facilitators and guests that you see around, get to know them and show interest!
A great way to know the campus is to join an association! I was a part of the student association, and I think it really helped show representation of Muslims in a Catholic University. People would see me in the office, and running around doing some errands and say hello. It also was really cool that my religious needs were always considered, and when I would leave to pray, my student association members would ask me to pray for them too, and I honestly found that so wholesome! You put a few extra hours into the campus but it’s a great way to network and know all the cool events happening and nice spots you can bum out at during exam/assignment season.
The student association can be a bit much if you’re on the introverted spectrum, but you can also find more niche associations, groups on campus, ask around and join, get involved. The reason your campus plays a role is because it keeps you connected to your uni community. Being home and studying… can become so monotonous, and let’s be real, you don’t get a chance to know people or make friends through online tutorials. So if you have the opportunity for an at campus course, definitely prioritise that.
Monitor Your Expectations During Exam/Assignment Season
Don’t Break.
Everyone who’s currently in Uni, or have been in Uni knows, exam/assignment time can really make or break your mental health. There’s a selected few that thrive during that time, but generally most people will be more on the ‘stressed-and-badly-dressed’ side of things.
I managed to make some very sweet friends early that made my undergrad time really worthwhile. It started with a larger group, but over the years, people dropped out (due to mental health issues) and it became a small trio with occasional add-on mates. And within the trio we had someone who was a HD (High Distinction) queen, she would put in the effort early, and just have amazing skills around research, analysing and writing. We also had a last minute queen, who did no prep work and would still get Distinctions or HD - some people are just blessed. And then there was me…. I put in effort, but only when I felt anxiety taking the wheel. I managed to get distinctions for most of course, but of course, when it’s last minute I got my fair share of credits, especially for units I didn’t particularly care for ( T.T).
Of course, you don’t have to always get HDs to make it out of Uni, P’s do get degrees, but in psychology, distinction average was a must to get into honours. So any credits hit me like a bus, and honestly felt like a failure.
My point of telling you this is for you to know and prepare for the standard you want for your academics, so your mental health doesn’t take the fall. I knew I needed distinctions, but at the end I didn’t try hard enough till my last year, and by then it was a bit too late. I missed out on honours by a couple of distinction marks. I didn’t lament too much though because by 2nd year I realised that while I respected psychologists, I preferred counselling much more. It showed me the uniqueness of the human experience, without making things too clinical, which personally was my calling.
My mental health during that 3rd year definitely suffered, our trio was getting to that point of “when will this be over” burnout. We were of course working at the same time, and had family issues to address alongside the uni stress. So the juggling act of staying on top of decent marks was very challenging that year, especially because it determined where our academic journey goes next. So my general advice is to think about what kind of marks you would ideally like to achieve, and put in the effort for that. And yes, I know we tried to do that for HSC, but uni is truly a different game, so really consider how many hours you need to put in to achieve the marks you need and want.
Keep your social-life alive.
Have Fun!
To help you through this time in your life, socialise as much as you want to and CAN. Have people you specifically go out to see, invite them over to your place, do study days, assignment days, and celebrate the important days that come around in between!
Mental health can be a slippery slope in uni; especially if you know where you want to get to, but struggling with the difficulty, OR even more so if you don’t know where you want to go with your career. It can be very tempting to just think of sacking uni/tafe and making a run for the hills - aka the workforce. Which there’s nothing wrong with! But before you drop education, definitely make sure that’s what you want.
It’s so much social pressure to try and adhere to family expectations, extended family expectations, and not to mention your own expectations of yourself; which gets harsher when you notice others your age either flying through uni, or getting a great job through connections.
Refocus
My advice is to refocus. Seek support. And make the best inform decision you can. And I mean get INFORMED. Do your research. Don’t take off on a hunch of “maybe I’ll enjoy ‘this’ better and change your whole course. Ask around about courses you’re interested in, look at the handbooks and content for the courses, speak to family members your already know are in fields you like, think of exchange opportunities, speak to a career’s advisor, set up an over coffee meeting with a professional in the field, speak to a counsellor to see what’s making you hesitate around your options, manage your emotions, and then decide. I know that’s a long list, but it’s great way to ensure you’re informed before changing courses just because you're not vibing with it or because it’s difficult.
The truth is, nothing comes easy. Uni/getting a career is not easy, people in their 60's are still struggling with being content in their jobs and lives, so don't expect yourself to fall in love straight away with the course itself.
Think about your personality, think about what you find rewarding in your day to day, analyse what you get complimented on by your loved ones and educators! And of course think about what you are INTERESTED in. When your interests align with your passions and values, you can then think about where you want to lead that passion. You don't need to monetise your hobbies and skills but If you want to, then its a great place to start considering options related to those skills.
If you do know where you want to be for your future and you’re already in your course, then all you need to do is - keep at it! You're doing great, things might change, but even if it does, you'll figure it out by seeking support. You're not alone, it's confusing even after you start the career. Questioning, analysing, revaluating and reflecting is just a part of life from this point onwards.
To recap:
My university years (mainly undergraduate) taught me the advantages of getting to know my campus; to physically go and speak to people, make connections and memories. I learned to monitor my mental health and expectations around stressors of uni (assignments, exams, career decisions) by seeking support and finding likeminded people by me, to help me along. This especially got into practice in my postgrad years. And lastly for me (an extrovert), I kept my social life booming, uni was only one aspect of my life, social life gave me perspective into uni struggles, allow me to get to know different groups of friends (uni/school/work/family) and learn from them frequently, and most importantly, really allowed me to have fun outside the stress of uni.
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Thank you for reading! If you liked this blog then you might like my other blog, it’s right below !
