One topic that I wish our university and society supported more often is mental health. Embarking in these conversations as a shared and united community would, in my opinion, support this community in a new way. Many college students suffer because of the classwork and their workload. The university has provided many services to support students such as academic advisors and counselors in the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center on campus. However, these resources may have been deemed less effective because tough topics and conversations are being forced to have over internet phone calls.
The beginning of this pandemic was tough for me personally. I moved back home with my family who added work and stress to an already stressful semester. I was forced into isolation for months. I saw no one other than my 7 closest family members during this time. I felt like I lost a lot over the course of the past 5 months, with the most important being motivation.
Along with this, our country has been in a state of panic and chaos because of the disagreements regarding COVID. Not only has our country become divided by this issue, they have also become isolated by majority groups such as African Americans and other people of color and the Black Lives Matter movement. And the final cherry on top is the presidential election.
On top of the feelings COVID has forced upon me, it has brought a lot of time and periods of self reflection. One thing I've realized is that being a black man in America is tough. People will be against you. They will try to tear you down. Life will intervene. But the one thing that I have struggled to stay focused on through all of this is that having faith and conquering your issues will be worth the ending result.
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