Opinion

Should students receive ‘mental health’ days ?

Taylor Brice

Mental health days should be granted to all college students. 

While the goal in college should be to get a degree, and be even more successful after college, many other things need to be done. 

Some students have to work in order to put themselves through school, and in addition to their work schedules, they have homework and classes. They never really have an off day. After so long this can wear the body down mentally, physically, and emotionally. 

Being an active student in general is a very draining job. I am currently in seven organizations while taking 19 credit hours. When I finally get to my room at about nine o’clock at night, I am ready to pass out. Passing out is not an option though because I have a stack of homework from all of the classes, aside from the projects I have taken home from the organizations. 

Networking with people and joining communities that will support you in having a better future is worth the stress, but having a mental health day would lessen the load. 

Monday through Friday, and sometimes Saturday, is tough to get through. When you get too deep into all of your business, there is no time for a personal moment. When I find the time to have a personal moment, I can relax, stop overthinking the things that need to be done tomorrow, and pull myself into a better position to handle anything else.

A day taken out of each week should be given to all students to prioritize their mental health. I feel it would improve the attitudes of teachers and students, students’ test scores, and the school’s atmosphere. 

Saturdays cannot be used as refresher days because they are used to pick up the slack from the weekdays. 

Sundays are supposed to be for rest but they always end up being the days used to prepare for school or work the next day. 

It is difficult to even sleep all the way through during the night when I can feel that I have to be up at 5 a.m. for choir, or 7 a.m. for my early 8 a.m. class. After a night of anxious sleeping, I only feel more stressed going into the next day. Rushing to my dorm in between classes for a 45-60 minute nap leaves me feeling even more tired than before. A day to rejuvenate is a necessity. It might prolong everyone’s lives. 

Many students that I have spoken to say that you can just schedule your classes to where you only have classes on certain days, but in some cases this might prevent someone from graduating in a certain semester. 

I do believe that if classes were to schedule at least a day to just do an assignment online, instead of meeting face to face some of the tensions could be released. Online assignments usually do not take very long, and your work can also count for attendance. This way, there can be a time for rest and school will still be taken care of.