Dealing with mental health has played a major factor with the person that I have become today. Imagine being apart of dual credit program taking the hardest classes of the year. My graduating class was 73 students and I can very vividly remember the amounts of stress that each student had on their faces whenever our professors mentioned that we had upcoming tests or papers. Each student was in an almost concerning state throughout the entirety of my school year. While it's important that counselors should know what is going on behind the scenes, normally, there are a lot of things that counselors do not know about. Since my graduating class was 73 people, everyone still had their cliques, but there was at least one individual that would branch out, sort of connecting each clique to each other like a big spider web. If one individual knew another, they knew everyone. The friend group that I was apart of was one that was the go to for people that needed help. My friends and I took everyone's mental state very seriously and we attempted to point each other in the direction to other classmates that seemed best fit for their needs. If they needed studying, we would point them towards the top 10% who were phenomenal teachers. If they just needed a listening ear, we were there. From my personal experiences being able to help was truly a strong push for what I believe in. Which leads me to saying that everyone knew of each other's struggles. Everyone tried the best that they did to uplift each other and that lead everyone to succeeding in their own ways, but playing this role allowed me to experience everyone's individual lives first hand. Everyone had their own struggles and I truly believe that a strong push for mental health help is needed to continue to strive for greatness. Communication also plays a big role in ensuring that people get the proper help that they need. For example, would you go to a brain surgeon to ask about any stomach ache that you might have? While they are still doctors, that isn't their specialty, and I believe that this mindset can be applied to the general public. It is also important that these doctors are genuine as sugarcoating any response is bound to cause further trouble. I think it is best to rip off the bandage with all advice/things that need to be said in life. If someone isn't genuine around you or puts on an act, they should not be an individual that you are associated with. The truest of friends should tell you how they think a decision that you made could either potentially lead to the worst or the best for you. Out of our group, I was the harshest when it came to delivering my thoughts on a situation. I don't believe that there is enough time on this planet for us to even attempt to cover up something that could be super important.