I went through some depression my first year of college.
Being away from home was challenging and I didn’t know anyone at the school. Dorm life wasn’t what I expected it to be and the cheerleading team turned out to be more focused on partying and boys than the actual sport. I ended up being alone a lot and became really anxious about it. That is the reason I got interested in exercising. I started going on long runs anytime I felt sad, stressed or lonely. The school campus featured a track where I was able to run barefoot. I consistently attempted to improve my speed and times. I gradually progressed to adding in skips, lunges, squats and jumps across the tennis courts. I found out that there were open swim times at the campus pool. I would typically go for a quick run, stretch at the tennis courts, then conclude my workout by swimming laps. Along with laps, I would tread water or just let myself swim around. After the swim, I’d use the showers in the school locker rooms and the rest of my day would be open. It was wonderful getting in shape and feeling more confident about myself. I also got really familiar with the layout of my school campus. I would run all different routes to find the various buildings and figure the layout of the land. I also met some great people because of my physical interest as well. It is how I came across a small group of like-minded people and finally got comfortable being at school away from home.