Apparently, ears can be sexy. I was under the ignorant impression that so long as your ears did not evoke childhood memories of Dumbo's flight, stick out from your neck, or you know, weren't there, ears were unimportant to overall attractiveness. I know, you must be thinking, ""What rock have I been living under?"" According to Heidi Montag, one of the reality celebs that make headlines by creating a ""situation,"" she did not have sexy ears until she went under the knife for 10 simultaneous procedures to perfect her body. The procedures included a neck liposuction, breast augmentation revision and a brow lift, the but for Montag, they do not seem to be enough. For now, it's the new year, new her, but she claims that surgery will still be necessary down the road.
After reading about this ""situation,"" I at first wondered why I wasted my time, but eventually got to thinking how depressing her comments were. I started to wonder what caused her obsession with not only having sexy ears, but also with becoming perfect. Whatever the reason, image obsession sadly not only affects celeb-reality, but also the reality on college campuses across America. And although Bucky is indeed perfect, most of us Badgers are not. Hence, the extra push to fix our perceived flaws called new year's resolutions that often include dieting, losing weight, becoming more organized and fixing broken relationships. Going along with the new year, however, is the new semester. For me, the first week of class was like a slap across the face. Did anyone else feel like shedding a tear when they received a syllabus or experienced a palm-to-forehead moment when they realized their professor lectures like the adults in Peanuts?
So now we've got our hideous ears, our imperfections-turned-resolutions, our never-ending academic workload and all of the normal stresses of college like success, jobs, roommates and our daunting futures. Plus, there's the pressure to be better, faster, stronger. Hell, even trying to write this article in the normally relaxing CoffeeBytes is stressful with Kanye's ""Stronger"" beating to the frantic rhythm of my typing. I can't write that fast!
Phew. Back on track. It's no wonder anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses like eating disorders thrive on campuses. The American College Health Association cites that all of these stresses (excluding my typing freak out) make depression the most common mental illness on college campuses. The organization found from studying 27,000 students at 40 colleges that nearly 50 percent of students describe feelings of hopelessness and tremendous anxiety. About 30 percent of them found these feelings severely interfered with their daily life.
Great, now I'm adding to your list of problems by making you worry about becoming depressed, right? Not my intention. Stress is a normal part of life, but we can't ignore that many people, based on genetics and chemical imbalances, experience higher and disabling anxiety and depression. These feelings of hopelessness and despair often start occurring for people within our age group. With the new year and new semester possibly adding to already high levels of anxiety, the cold months of January and February may prove difficult for many students.
Luckily, Madison is an ideal place to deal with these difficulties. Self magazine rated Madison eighth in healthiest cities for women, citing that 85 percent get regular exercise that results in 15 percent lower mortality rates from cancer and heart disease down the road. Plus, we look good. Boys, I suppose Madison is a good place for you too then.
Also, we are now slowly gaining access to healthier eating options with the installation of places like Fresh Madison Market on campus. Exercise and eating right proves to help with stress, so it looks like Madison is on track there, but endorphins and vitamins are sometimes not enough to combat the more severe problems discussed above. Thankfully, more good news about living in lovely Madison is that we have access to high quality care if problems do escalate. University Health Services, even with its relatively low number of counselors, has been recognized by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care for its outstanding caregiving and counseling. Also, organizations like SPILL can be a useful venue for airing one's frustrations. So, if this semester brings you down, seek out our superior mental health counseling.
There is no shame in admitting that you cannot be perfect, but you should deal with it in a healthy way. Join the fitness craze or go to UHS, don't undergo 10 plastic surgeries. And maybe change your resolutions from getting that ideal body to just getting through college alive and healthy.
Melissa Grau is a freshman intending to major in secondary education and communication arts. We welcome all feedback. Please send all responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
