I have spent a lot of time over the last decade in hospitals and in doctor's offices learning about schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, which is what I have been diagnosed with. I have somewhat retreated from all the socializing that I used to do and spent a lot more time with myself. Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder was confusing at first, because I knew nothing about them, this was followed by a period of anger after learning that it was an illness with no known cure, followed by acceptance. I initially took it out on people around me, such as family members and doctors. I had a hard time working with doctors and taking medications because I was still frustrated that I was diagnosed with these conditions in the first place. I would give up on the treatment plan and come off of the medications on my own causing rebound symptoms. After learning to take advice from the people around me, I have been working with a doctor and finally altering the medications so that eventually I will not have to keep getting blood drawn so frequently to check the levels of two of the medications in my body. I have learned to trust others and take advice. This experience with mental health challenges has taught me that there is new information coming out all of the time, everything is temporary, and that just because there is no cure today for these illnesses, that doesn't mean there never will be. It has taught me that there are many types of people in the world, some mean well more than others do. During this time if introversion and learning about myself, I spent a lot of time reading as well. I used to want to be in university and live in dorms and be away from family, which I might still want to do for a period of time, but I also learned that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side and to appreciate what I have at home while striving for a better life.

I would recommend that everyone read Open by Andre Agassi. It is a good book that teaches you about the struggles of being famous and that fame isn't all that great and it is a good book to get you prepared for a long college career. If everyone read this book, they may spend more time in college rather than going on to advanced degrees and have more opportunities available to them while they're an undergraduate student. I read this at the beginning of my freshman year of college and it set me up to pass my classes and do exponentially better in school from freshman to junior year. It also gave me an insight into what it takes to be a professional tennis player and gave me the chance to consider alternatives in careers other than professional tennis. It helped me realize the opportunity I had as a student to focus on schoolwork and develop a career as an undergraduate student instead of athletics because athletics are so competitive and challenging to find any reward unless you are highly skilled and able bodied. Only a select few are able to do this. In summary, Open by Andre Agassi is a good book to start off your undergraduate career if you are deciding to go to college. Andre discusses what he has to go through on and off the tennis court and if you are already committed to becoming a professional athlete, it is definitely off-putting in terms of the amount of pain and suffering Andre has to go through to achieve what he did. As a former student-athlete who was learning from a professional tennis player at the time I read this book, it turned me onto a different career altogether.