Cougars & Mustangs 

Your unofficial favorite song follows loop trails around your aching head relentlessly. The only fueling done at breakfast is the stoking of the irritated fire of bad terms. The embrace of the warm shower whispers jests at your expense and your body slips into the darkness of slumber by the barrage assault of all that is around you—or all that seems to be, which is frankly quite enough these days. As you drag yourself out of the nearly flooding water, body patterned with wrinkling, you instinctively prepare yourself for the long, grueling day of school ahead. Somewhere between pants and socks, however, you remember that school hasn’t even started yet. You have a few days to go. This thought does NOT help.

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Beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams left this Earth a few days ago. While he brought the world a great deal of laughter, and left many of us with something to think about on the side, it wasn’t all smiles in his life. Like so many of us, the actor struggled with a depression that soaked its way into daily routines, making even ordinary life a struggle. If you’ll permit me, I’d like to pose a few thoughts, dear readers.

College students routinely rank among the most stressed and depressed people in the nation. I myself have had my major warring with it, and so many of my friends and loved ones have too. Even between semesters, the daily as well as spontaneous traumas we all face slowly wear away at the defenses until emotional bulk seems paper thin and leaking. One’s closest friends, though they know how to handle you in ways that others could never guess, are not experts on all of this, and as you find yourself painting out the word “Hollow” in as many different styles and colors as you can on a piece of paper you didn’t realize you were even holding, it can be helpful to know that you are not alone in the feeling, and there are tools available to help.

Active Minds Cuesta College Chapter (you can visit them at their Facebook page) is a school club that promotes the mental health of Central Coast college students. It regularly shares links to information on ways to seek help or even be a helper yourself in emotional or mental battles either you or a loved one is battling. The group also shares positive self-messages and—off the Internet—organizes events, booths, and handouts to better spread mental health awareness. As Active Minds Inc. founder is quoted as saying atop the Cuesta branch’s page, “We don’t all have mental illness, but we all have mental health.” As you head into your lives, both in school and outside, please do your best to remember this. Cuesta students may also note that each semester they may receive a free session with a counselor, to be scheduled as needed.

Contributer Chris White-Sanborn compiled this week’s Cougars and Mustangs. Send your collegiate news to [email protected].