I literally fainted at my college’s most recent home game, and for attention-seeking’s sake, I’ve decided to share this story here!
JK (well, okay, half-JK), this experience actually revealed to me some areas I could probably improve in, especially related to my mental and physical health, so I thought I’d share a few of these epiphanies here.
What happened
It was a typical Football Saturday in Girl World, filled with cute outfits, frats, and pre-game jams. I probably (legally) drank a little more alcohol than I usually do, and because this is Texas, it was HOT in the stadium. It was a highly anticipated game, so the student section was crowded and I eventually began to feel… unwell. I left to buy an overpriced water, because TCU doesn’t give out water for free in the stadium, not even during dangerously hot football games or parents’ weekends, my blood pressure plummeted, and I fainted several times, gaining and losing consciousness, before being rushed away to accept assistance from the on-site medical team.
The fatigue lasted into the night and I was absolutely drained the following Sunday. This made it difficult to do my homework over the weekend which led to a chain reaction in my academics, work life, and social life. I spent the next few days trying to play catch up, ironically at the expense of my physical health, skipping meals and working late into the night. Additionally, it created a fear of fainting again or something worse happening to me in public, so it has been a very anxiety-riddled week.
what i learned
The inability for error is an error
In my head, I thought my life was running like a well-oiled machine, a nearly flawless system. However, this experience exposed a significant error in my life’s design: there’s no room for variability. If one singular thing goes wrong or strays from the plan, I’m left scrambling until I reach the next weekend and can regroup.
I am not invincible
The second thing I learned is that, as silly as it may seem, I am not invincible and my actions do have consequences. I forgot to eat dinner last night and woke up in the middle of the night with such a bad hunger migraine that I couldn’t fall back to sleep. As a response, I overslept and missed my work shift, and I am scrambling to finish this article before my class as I type. This has all created a chaotic day that has left me feeling much more stressed and panicked than I need to. The worst part is that in the past four weeks, this is not a one-off experience, and I doubt I can go about life this way much longer.
Neglecting your health is not cute
Being both an honors student and a business student, it is no surprise that competition is at the core of my college experience. Sometimes I get so caught up in striving for “excellence”, whatever that means to me, I forget to take care of my personhood, and there’s nothing excellent about that.
So, if you’re anything like me, hopefully this will inspire you to take a step back and re-evaluate your priorities and the cost of them. I know I will certainly be making more than a few changes in the upcoming weeks.
Also, TCU, you really could hand out a free water or two at the football games. Just saying.