My dog died Christmas 2013, so the following January was really rough. I'd break out in tears randomly for weeks and weeks afterwords. I was in the spring semester of my senior year immediately after that so graduating and colleges and all that jazz distracted me for a while, but towards the end (March-May 2014) it started to hit me that I would be losing all my friends after the summer, but I put it in the back of my mind. I was going to CC and had less than no idea of what I wanted to do in college or for a job, and of course I was getting asked what I was doing nearly daily by friends and family. So I began to resent the world for forcing me to make this decision. At the same time I was gaining weight, I had been slowly all through high school, and I'd try and try but I never could lose weight. The summer went by and was very fun but once college started, it went downhill fast. I went from hanging out with my best buds every single day like we had been for years to nobody overnight. I gained like 20 more pounds by the end of the semester, and hadn't made any friends and hadn't seen any of my old friends in months. Still had absolutely zero idea about what I was doing at school or what I wanted to do. I'd come very close to ending it a few times, the future looked so bleak and aimless.

Then, something clicked. After months of telling myself "I really should start soon.." and procrastinating while researching nutrition and exercise stuff, I started a new weight loss journey. My friends came back for Christmas break, which for most was 3-5 weeks. My class schedule for the following semester was immensely easier. There were many things at once that caused me to start feeling better, but if I had to pinpoint one root cause I'd say it was my friends returning. I kept losing weight, and am still losing weight. My GPA for this semester was a full grade point higher than my first semester. I've decided on a career, and am beyond excited to do everything I can to ensure I am successful.

If people are reading this to try and get some advice or some kind of help, the best I can offer is to change your environment, and your life. Depression is often full of peaks and valleys, you just need to take advantage of one of those better days by starting what you've been putting off, or changing something you've been meaning to change. Those first few months after I started feeling better were the happiest I've ever been in my entire life, I felt as if I had anti-depression. I would wake up every day and literally jump out of bed excited for what was in store, knowing that I was lowing weight successfully for the first time, and that I enjoyed my classes, and I knew my friends would be back in the summer. This summer (only 2 weeks in) has already been incredible, and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store.