Finding Motivation For Your Passions

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

The past few months, I haven’t given any time to writing music, which is something I used to be very passionate about. Music used to be a big coping mechanism for me for dealing with my anxiety. Any negative emotions I felt could easily be expressed through writing a song. Continue reading Finding Motivation For Your Passions

Weekend Viewings: Patriot Act

Satirical political shows are everywhere now. There’s been a recent trend where they zero in on an important, often underrepresented topic and highlight it by going into a lot of detail about the issues the topic is facing and why it’s important to address it. Think of people like John Oliver, who has covered subjects like warehouses and voting machines, or Samantha Bee, who has covered sexual harassment in the animation workplace and whitewashing in museums. Continue reading Weekend Viewings: Patriot Act

Using Social Media at Night

It may be hard for some to remember the last time that they got a proper, full night’s sleep. Schoolwork, jobs, and extracurricular activities are just a few things that can contribute to an adolescent’s hectic and busy schedule. Simply put, there aren’t enough hours in the day for people to do everything that they want, and they often sacrifice the time they should be using sleeping to get everything else done.

Continue reading Using Social Media at Night

The Benefit of Naps

Yesterday, we talked about the danger of depression naps. However, this isn’t to imply that all naps are bad for you – in fact, they’re incredibly beneficial!

At first, naps can seem like a waste of time if you’re incredibly busy and are seen as a sign of laziness. They may also seem like the only thing your body and mind can do if you’re experiencing a depressive episode and don’t have the strength or motivation to do anything else. Naps are usually seen in a negative light for these reasons if you aren’t a child, despite the fact that they can help you become more alert, improves memory and creative thinking, and can improve your mood.  Continue reading The Benefit of Naps

Saying “Thank You” to Compliments: A Way to Boost Self-Esteem

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

Ever since I started my freshman year of college this August, I have tried to develop new and healthier habits. While some of the habits were as menial as getting at least six hours of sleep, some of my newly acquired habits required a bit more skill. One of the habits I have been trying to develop is saying thank you to compliments. I went through high school with high demands of myself which caused me to have low self-esteem. This low self-esteem made it even more difficult to deal with anxiety. I decided that I wanted to change this– after all, college is a way to have a fresh start in life. Continue reading Saying “Thank You” to Compliments: A Way to Boost Self-Esteem

Teen Mental Health

The Internet has made it really easy and really difficult to find information about mental health. You can find a plethora of information with just a simple Google search, but how can you tell what information is the most valid and up to date? And when you do find valid and legitimate information about mental health, just how do you interpret and understand it? Continue reading Teen Mental Health

How I Avoid Getting Overwhelmed? I Set.

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

To me and a lot of other people I know, extracurricular activities seem to be like potato chips: you can never have just one. When I was in high school, I was involved in a lot of different clubs, a sport, and honor society at my school. During my first semester of college, I did the same thing. I quickly involved myself with four clubs, became a pledge in a co-ed fraternity, took a volunteer opportunity and signed up to do this, along with my fifteen credit course load. Although I was happy to be involved on campus, I soon realized I was getting worn out by my busy schedule. I also couldn’t fully commit myself to some of the activities. The last straw was when I got sick and had to miss a day of class. I didn’t want to overwhelm myself and risk my health, or my grades so I set up rules for myself so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed. Continue reading How I Avoid Getting Overwhelmed? I Set.

Managing Homework Stress

The SOVA Project is happy to feature this blog post written by one in our team of fantastic SOVA Ambassadors—these are young people who help create meaningful blog posts from adolescents’ perspectives. We hope you can use their post to start a conversation with your adolescent.

Going back to school or college after a long summer vacation can be tough, but September is often an easy month. It’s exciting to get new school supplies, start new classes, and see friends again while the workload remains relatively easy. By October or November, stress and anxiety start to rear their ugly heads as students’ to-do lists grow longer and the days slip away. Continue reading Managing Homework Stress