This blog post is going to be a little different from the usual monthly ones about a certain topic relating to mental health! Instead, we'll be featuring several members of AMSA, and their advice or tips for mental health and self care! First up is three members of this year's AMSA board: Emily Nguyen, Hanna O-Lee, and Dylan Caballes
First up is Emily Nguyen, Community Service Chair:
"Imposter syndrome is something I struggle a lot with and as someone who shares a lot of spaces with older, objectively more educated graduate students and individuals with a lot of prestigious awards and abbreviations behind their name, I think something that has helped me at least have more control over this feeling is understanding that imposter syndrome is a shared experience and is not something that happens in a vacuum. The same people you look up to have or are still currently feeling what you're feeling. Don't let imposter syndrome keep you from trying and feeling like you belong, because you do. In other words, fake it until you make it because there is really no difference between fake and genuine confidence."
- Emily Nguyen, 2023
Wise words of advice on imposter syndrome! A challenge I'm sure most of us have faced at some point in our career at UCSD or even in other aspects of our life.
Next is Hanna O-Lee, this year's Secretary:
"One mental health tip that I learned within the past year and that has truly allowed me to find balance in my life is best represented by a quote I heard the other day. It says, “If it makes you happy, then it is not a waste of time.” Every student in college is plunged into an environment that makes them feel like they’re constantly drowning in their own lack of productivity, and I know I was one of them at one point in time. Everywhere I looked, someone was always doing more than me, and they were doing it better. I constantly felt this guilt on my shoulders whenever I’d be home watching Netflix, while my peers were out working at their labs, and this cycle occurred again and again. It wasn’t until I piled up a schedule that made me feel “productive” but physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted that I realized that taking those breaks for a self-care night or a dinner out with my friends was just as “productive” and healthy for my future as was filling up my schedule. Now, I schedule these mental health breaks on a weekly basis, placing just as much importance on “me time” as I do for everything else in my life, and I’ve never been happier."
- Hanna O-Lee, 2023
Well-spoken on self-care and mental health breaks! It's easy to fall into the cycle of comparing ourselves to other students and feeling like we have to be working constantly, but its really important and beneficial to take breaks along the way.
Last but not least, Dylan Caballes, Clinical Coordinator
" use anger as passion. be like tanjiro "
Wise words.... that is, if you know who tanjiro is ;)
