Conquering Mental Health As A SAPro

Hello Readers,

A friend of mine is doing a podcast talking about mental health and so I wanted to take the time to give my two cents about mental health and working in student affairs. As a young professional today, I look back at my past and think about everything that I have had to overcome to get to where I am today. Not very many people know about my life aside from my success and my career goals and of course they most likely know that I am fabulous.

To get to where I am today, I have had to conquer self-doubt, depression and anxiety and to this day, it is still something I continue to struggle with. However, I know that each day, I am getting stronger. Although people have told me things like “You’re too crazy to work in this field.” or things like “You can’t handle this kind of job.” I never let that stop me from pushing through and achieving my goals.

As a black male, I was often judged for expressing my emotions, particularly by other black males. If you cried you were weak, if you showed emotion you were gay, if you didn’t keep all of your feelings to yourself, you weren’t a man. These are the things that are ingrained into us during our childhood.

It wasn’t until I was able to comfortably talk about these problems (either with a therapist or a counselor) that I started to understand that it is ok.

It IS normal to have these problems and it IS ok to get help for your problems despite what others may think because they are not you. Don’t be afraid to get the help that you need, especially if there are services provided to get that help. It will only help you grow closer to accomplishing your goals and reaching success.

Be on the lookout for my episode of the podcast which will be out soon. Check out his podcast here.

-Mike