Even though I am a sophomore, I struggle with reaching out for help through the Washington University community. While I have my friend group, am involved in co-curriculars and (usually) attend my classes, I still don’t know who here I can turn to when things get rough. I am grateful for the resources on campus, but I have never had the self-awareness to reach out when things get hard, and I feel I am not alone in this situation. A lot of us feel like we are the only ones going through these issues, and oftentimes we are not. Many of us feel like we are drowning.

A few weeks ago, I found out that one of my parents had been diagnosed with cancer and that they would be undergoing a surgery in the following week. That, on top of other family issues, as well as the strains of being a student here, was hard to take, and I made less of an effort to head to my classes in general. I lost sight of the importance of focusing on my education because that wasn’t able to fix the other problems I was having in my life. During this time, I received emails from numerous teachers reminding me that if I kept missing classes, my grade in that class would drop a full letter grade for not adhering to class policy. It was interesting and upsetting that these people who see me so often made it their priority to tell me of the consequences of my actions, rather than to find the root reason.

While I was figuring out how to respond to these emails, I received a different email from one of my teachers. He asked to schedule a time to meet with me in regard to class and how I was feeling. From just that one email checking in with me, I told him everything that was going on, and we met for an hour in person over coffee later that week to discuss how I was feeling. At this meeting, he revealed to me that he went through a very similar situation when he was going through graduate school, so he understood my pain. He took the time to listen to my frustrations, fears and concerns, and he validated all my feelings. He provided practical support, and while he couldn’t promise me that things would get better, he assured me that he would be willing to accommodate in any capacity possible. He told me he was here to help.

I am extremely grateful that this teacher paid attention to me and that he took the time to reach out. It made me feel really good to know that someone realized I was struggling and that they wanted to help. Thanks to him, I can say I have faith that there are individuals looking out for us in this community, and I hope, in the way he was able to help me, I will be able to look out and help others. Remember that you are not alone.