I graduated from school in last year june, with an empty pocket and a bag of dreams. Anxious about what the future holds, I decided to go on a six-month grind to study, sharpen my skills, and prepare myself for the next chapter of my life. I started out strong: deleted my socials, cut off distractions, and locked myself in a world of books, code and late-night research. But just two months in, I crashed.

The drive that had fueled me suddenly vanished into thin air. The me that could go on an uninterrupted 12hr study without breaking sweat couldn’t even lift a finger. I’ll lay in bed for hours, staring at the ceiling, unable to summon the energy to work or even think clearly. Life felt devoid of color. Songs I loved became noise. Movies felt pointless. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t place my hands on it. I was feeling everything, and nothing at once. It felt like my body was trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand what it was saying. This continued for a month, until I realized I had to do something.

That was when I stumbled upon neuroscience and the study of emotions. As I read more and more, things started to click. Turns out the body is always speaking, we just have to learn how to listen. I’ve lost count of the times I read an article and internally shouted, “Omg, that’s me!” In just two weeks, I learned more about myself than I had in my entire 21 years.

I believe understanding how the mind works is important to understanding ourselves and navigating life with clarity and purpose. Going forward, I plan on creating more content around Emotional Intelligence and Mental Wellbeing.