Junior has been “digging a hole” for herself while dealing with struggles of school, lockdown, and health issues
It’s a known truth that these are unprecedented times and have affected everyone in different ways. Covid-19 and unfamiliar circumstances have caused increased stress and worsening mental health among students. Junior Ella Mitchell has faced this stress head-on, struggling with recurrent seizures this semester that was caused by stress over school and covid, she is still learning how to navigate her stress and mental health.
Diagnosis & seizures
Mitchell was diagnosed with epilepsy over two years ago in February of 2018, her Freshman year of high school, when she had a “grand mal” seizure, a type of seizure that involves a loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions. She had to be taken out of school for several months but later began going on campus for her AP classes and taking the rest of her classes through independence, as she could not make it through the whole school day with her health restrictions.
She had recently celebrated one year of being seizure-free when the week before semester finals she experienced several “myoclonic” seizures, jerking and spasms of muscles, due to stress caused by school.
Stuck in a hole
With this recent event and not being able to go places due to lockdown, she has been struggling with her worsening mental health and a persistent feeling that her condition has only continued to decline without any sign of improvement,
“Right now I’m kind of in this pit, I was just digging this hole and I wasn’t putting the shovel down, it was awful.” Michell said, “I do the same thing every day, and I hate it, and I want my life to be better. But you can’t wish for those things, it’s not going to change right now, I mean we’re in a pandemic.”
Just keep going
While she has been battling with these issues Michell finds comfort through animals.
She enjoys riding horses and rides competitively in a style of riding called “western pleasure.” She is also passionate about dogs and may be interested in a career in dog training.
Something that she is looking forward to for the new year is her family adopting puppies and has been using that to stay motivated for the future.
“We’re getting some puppies in like four months and I’m just thinking, ‘four months’ you just gotta keep going, keep going.”
That’s all any of us can do during these times, no matter what struggles will be faced and what sorrows are endured, just keep going.
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