Opinion
GUEST ROOM | Taking Care of Yourself on Election Day
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Tomorrow feels like staring down the barrel of a political D-Day. But I’m here to help you cope!
The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/self-care/)
Tomorrow feels like staring down the barrel of a political D-Day. But I’m here to help you cope!
In truth, I needed to move slower and laugh deeper to attain real success.
There are many resources at Cornell in place to address mental health concerns of the student body; CAPS, EARS, Body Positive, just to name a few. I genuinely think that the school does care and try to support the wellbeing of students. Yet, there still exists an undeniable gap in the mental health system, and many, many students fall through the cracks. It’s easy to try and blame Cornell Health; and while I think, as with any organization, there can definitely be improvements, the issue is more deep-rooted than that.
While walking up the stairs in my house, I saw my brother Mike’s door was propped open. I popped my head in to see how he was doing. Talking with him, we happened upon the topic of illness. “My throat has been so sore that it hurts even to swallow. I wouldn’t mind the cough otherwise.”
Well, I had a solution for that!
As we continue through the semester, the chorus of reminders that students take care of themselves continues to grow. E-mails from staff, opinion pieces in The Sun and reminders from concerned friends and family encourage us to exercise self-care in addition to managing homework, exams, work and extracurriculars. We, as a community, have begun to talk more openly about burnout, self-care and seeking clinical care in the last few years. While all of these are crucial to helping students in distress, sometimes taking care of oneself is simply not possible while continuing one’s academic work. Sometimes the best choice for a student may be to take a voluntary leave of absence.
These days, with many unknowns in the world around us, I’m asked both inside and outside of the exam room, “How can I take care of myself? How do I focus my energy in the right place to prevent illness and stay healthy and well? How can I make a difference in the world around me?”
This fall, there are three things that immediately come to mind: Get your flu shot, register to vote and be kind to yourself. Number 1: Get Your Flu Shot
A yearly flu vaccine is the first and most important step to prevent the flu and its complications, like missed work or school, time out of your busy schedule for clinic visits or more serious consequences like hospitalizations. The fall — preferably before the end of October — is the best time to get a flu shot.
The first few weeks of the school year is full of new opportunities: classes to take, clubs to join and friends to make. With over 1,000 student groups available and even more courses offered, the options seem endless. Students often find their schedules tightly packed as they try to fit as many classes, work opportunities and extracurriculars into their day. As the semester goes on, students can find themselves burning out as they try to stay on top of all of their responsibilities. It’s therefore not surprising that, in recent years, more and more orientation events encourage students to practice self-care to try and avoid burning out.
We are a week away from that holiday: Valentine’s Day. Having been single for 22 years continuously, I’ve really grown to hate this consumption-driven, exclusionary, sickly-pink holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a #strongindependentwoman and know I don’t need a lovey-dovey partner to 1) have fun, 2) be happy or 3) orgasm, but seeing all of the cheesy affection on display reminds me that I’ll never achieve that linear, heteronormative, Hallmark-romance love that society hearts so very much. So, if you’ve found love just in time to avoid being single on this dreadful day, go fuck yourself, this article isn’t for you. But if you’re a single soul like myself on this miserable day, here are my top 10 Valentine’s Day tips and tricks to hating this day a little less, and loving yourself a little more.
“Five things I wish I could have told my 12 year old self”: A heartfelt letter from an older sister.