Today mental illnesses account for approximately fourteen percent of deaths worldwide. That is around eight million deaths each year that are credited to mental illnesses. Mental health is our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Mental health plays a big role in how we live our lives and how it causes us to feel and act. I know this because at one point I too was part of a group of people that struggled with mental and emotional health due to trials and setbacks I went through in life and because of this, I know that it is important to adopt healthy habits to manage and maintain a good emotional and mental health. It also taught me that the need for a safe space to communicate and just being able to have some sort of outlet is important to mental and emotional health. There was a part of my life when I was struggling mentally. I had just suffered a serious injury that left me bound to the sidelines for the whole season. After I was released from the hospital I began the long process of recovering and trying to get my body back in the right shape to have a shot at possibly playing again. In the beginning, I was hardly making any progress and it affected me because I have always been naturally good at everything I have done. It caused me to doubt myself and think I would never be good enough. I started to give up. I started to stress and lose focus on the important things, it even caused me to be less productive in the classroom. It was harder to think straight and focus because my mind was always wandering and thinking negative thoughts. Eventually, I mustered up enough courage to speak with someone about it. I started attending meetings with a professional who could help me learn to manage my mental health inside and outside the classroom. For me, I learned that anytime I am doing something that causes my mind to wander into a negative place I excuse myself from the room and just take a deep breath then continue with what I was doing. You see for me something as simple as just taking a moment to breathe helped me to manage my emotions. It was important for me to have an outlet to manage my mental health, and I believe that this holds for others as well. This year I joined my school's student government association and it has helped me to stay proactive, and it also has allowed me to be surrounded by great people. This has helped me to realize that sometimes having a group of people or being a part of something helps you feel good about yourself. It helps manage your mental and emotional health. I feel that I could do the same for others as well by creating a club that does some volunteer work that helps the less fortunate and those in need. Because having that as an outlet could help people just like it did for me by creating a safe place where you can be a part of something bigger than yourself, and that's a great feeling. Mental health is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. Doing things as little as just taking a breath when you are feeling stressed and pressured can help to build good habits to manage your emotional health. If you're going through something don't be afraid to speak up. Never forget this, nobody is too good or too broken to get the help they need.