I think one of the most important ideas I learned from my research was just how many poor portrayals of mental illness there are in the media. I think it speaks to a greater misunderstanding of mental illness, and it’s something that we need to work hard to correct. Recently, portrayals of mental illness have become more accurate and less sensationalized, but there is more work to be done.
I also learned a lot about how many mental illnesses are underdiagnosed in children, especially in underprivileged communities. Too often troubling behavior is ignored, dismissed, or labeled as something that a child will “grow out of”. Early recognition of mental illness can help parents develop a treatment plan before symptoms worsen. The key to doing this is educating parents on mental illness and pushing parents to take their children’s emotions more seriously.
My time at North has been great, and I think that I have done a good job of pursuing things that I am interested in and staying on top of school work. If I could give advice to incoming freshmen, it would be to take advantage of all the opportunities that North offers. Growing up in Naperville we are all very privileged to have access to such a great public school system, and many of us take it for granted. Take interesting classes that aren’t offered in other schools, go to school events, and join all of our very well-funded and well-established clubs that interest you.
That being said, my second piece of advice would be that high school does not matter (or at least not as much as you think it does right now). You should try in school because it can set you up for success for the rest of your life – but just because your GPA isn’t as high as someone else’s doesn’t mean you’re going to be less successful or less happy than them for the next 70 years of your life. Just because someone is going to a higher-ranked college than you doesn’t mean you’re going to be less successful or less happy than them for the next 70 years of your life. It’s easy for us to think that everything is life or death right now – friend groups, sports, grades – but when you look back on your high school years, the only thing you’ll be left with is the memories you made. It’s important to take a step back and realize that these are just another four years of your life. What’s most important right now is spending the time to develop yourself into the person you want to be, and to surround yourself with people that you appreciate. I think too often we separate high school from college, and college from “real life” or the “real world”. Sure, they’re different, but don’t waste 8 years waiting to start your “real life”. This is real life right now – find the things that make you happy and pursue them.
I like your point about how parents often aren’t educated enough about mental illnesses. I never thought about how this can be an even bigger problem in underprivileged communities. I totally agree with what you said about how North has really interesting classes. I recently reflected that I hadn’t taken a lot of North’s more interesting and popular classes, and I kind of regret this choice.
Carter, I think the last section of your post is particularly important, it seems that we often look to the future because we feel dependent on our communities right now, but it is important to remember that every day we gain more independence than we had the day before and must focus on the present rather than sitting and waiting for the real world open its arms to us at some arbitrary time in the future.
I completely agree with you regarding mental illness and the media. The media, though extremely useful in spreading news, can sometimes be extremely detrimental to those with mental illnesses, because they are portrayed with a slight bias that makes them seem like worse people than “normal” people, and I say “normal” with quotes because everyone should be viewed as normal, including those with mental illnesses. This inequality and power imbalance in the world between different types of people is something that I touched on a lot in my project, and is extremely unfair to those who are the victims of the power imbalance. Great work!
Carter,
I think your commentary about mental illness and how harmful the sensationalization of it can be to those who suffer from it. I think that education must start with parents, as they are the ones who should know their kids the best and are the ones who spend the most meaningful time with their kids. I think that trying to destigmatize mental illness for those who suffer from it is also important, s I;ve done research as to how people with mental illnesses can hate themselves and view themselves as week or burdens.