December is a month spent by the fire, drinking hot chocolate while laughing with your family. Brought together by the cold holiday spirit, it’s the perfect way to end the year. The tenth day of this cheery month however, belongs to a different cause. Human Rights Day is meant to celebrate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, designed by the United Nations General Assembly 73 years ago. This document proclaims the non-negotiable rights that every human being is entitled to, regardless of one’s appearance, ideas or how they were brought up. One of these rights is the universal right to health care. Ill health, “can keep us from going to school or to work, from attending to our family responsibilities or from participating fully in the activities of our community,” states United Nations, but what about mental health?

Compared to the obvious symptoms of physical health, many struggle to recognize the signs that something is going on under the surface. Because mental health tends to fly under the radar, we decided to ask students of Foothill some advice they would give to their past selves in hopes to shine a light on mental awareness.