I achieved a huge goal of mine today; I graduated college! And I did it all with mental illness hounding at my door every single day. . Looking back on the post 3 (almost 4) years of my life I can see so much growth, learning, pain, fulfillment, meaning, and joy. I felt the urge to run back home as a 17 year old, two states away from the only home and family I ever knew. But I came up here to BYU-Idaho and I met a whole new group of people who have helped me at various times. . There was my sweet roommate my first semester, who would make me eat when she saw I was an anxious mess and skipping out on my meals. There was my boyfriend turned fiancé turned husband who still continues to show me love and patience. There were professors who took a genuine interest in me and my education. There were semester friends, class friends, and life long friends that I met up here. . I also went through hard times. I felt the pressures of getting good grades, going to class, all the good students stuff. But then I had more intense obsessions like accidentally hitting someone with my car, dying of raw chicken if I didn’t scrub the kitchen top to bottom after cooking it, and laying in bed wide awake night after night afraid I would die and go to hell. Y’know the typical OCD stuff💁🏼 . But I was able to make it through. I found a good therapist, I went and upped my medication, and I formed a support group. Just because you have a mental illness does not mean that you can’t be any less successful than someone who doesn’t have one. . Let me repeat that for the people in the back. You don’t have to let your mental illness get in the way of your goals and dreams. Take the first few steps. Be brave. Face the smaller fears and work your way up. It takes work, but oh my is it worth it. . Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take a nap cuddled up next to my diploma and be proud of the fact that I did something very difficult😂 . . #college #collegegraduate #diploma #youcandohardthings #lesrning #growing #selfcare #selflove #mentalillness #mentalhealth #mentalhealthblogs #mentalhealthblogger #ocd #ocdproblems #goals #achievinggoals #reachinggoals #reachingmygoals (at Rexburg, Idaho) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrgbfSEHoEf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1dxvft4omymxo