To date, my depression has cost me years of peace of mind, more hours of sleep than I can count and the opportunity to watch two friends get married.

And I’m one of the lucky ones.

College is a time when people are asked to do the nigh impossible. We are tasked with juggling work, school and relationships through a time of self-discovery and change.

And for some of us, there are days it just doesn’t seem worth it. “Real life” goes from exciting to awful, and we convince ourselves that we are all alone.

It’s amazing how quickly a Netflix marathon can come to seem like a better idea than actually getting out of bed and facing the world.

But it doesn’t have to be like this.

Although we have some serious problems with talking about mental health in this country, depression is an illness like any other. Nobody expects someone with cancer to just get better on their own, and mental health works the same way. Yet too many people try and wrestle with their sick minds on their own. I’ve been there, and it just isn’t worth it.

You are not a failure for enlisting help in the battle against your demons.

If you are experiencing depression, if you think there’s even a chance, please talk to someone. You deserve to be happy. You deserve the freedom to look ahead at your life with a sense of hope and excitement. You deserve the exhilaration that comes from learning more about your chosen major. You deserve to give your free time to things you’re passionate about. You deserve to feel more than dread about the work in front of you. You deserve to be happy.

If anything I’ve rambled about here has struck a chord with you, please see a professional. I’ve had wonderful experiences at both the NDSU Counseling Center (701-231-7671) and Village Family Services in south Fargo (701-451-4900).

I know picking up the phone for this call is the most terrifying thing in the world. I know admitting to yourself that you need the help hurts. But I also know that there is more to life than desperately waiting to be happy again. And there is nothing I want more for you than to be happy.