A Roman pundit once wrote, “Good health and good sense are two of life’s greatest blessings.”

University of California – Los Angeles student Katya Lavine offers a poignant personal story that touches upon both those blessings.

And thus, here I am, home in San Francisco. My reactivation of mono caused complications in my brain, sinuses and muscles. I have had to declare non-enrollment for fall quarter, postpone my dream internship and delay moving into my first apartment. What should have been the fall quarter of my senior year at UCLA is now a fall spent in my childhood bedroom taking courses online so I don’t fall behind.

This, my friends, is why I say the following: take care of yourself.

…I know how easy it is to view sickness as a roadblock to success in college. When I had mono back in May, I took the highest dose of Tylenol just so I could physically walk to class. Then I drank coffee and Red Bull to beat the crippling fatigue that accompanies the virus. I continued to go to parties and stay up late because I was afraid that missing one night might mean I’d be missing the best night of my life. I refused to accept that I was sick.

All the while, I was setting myself up for failure. I was putting my ever-persistent fear of missing out first and my health second, unknowingly hurting myself the more I did it.

And this is not just the case with physical illness. How many people do you know with depression, anxiety, an eating disorder or a problem that warrants counseling – but won’t confront it?

It’s because we are told that college isn’t a time for those things. It’s a time to make friends, study hard, party and have fun. But we need to embrace the reality that the mental and physical illnesses we get in college can have repercussions – maybe not right now, but sooner than we think…

I wish with all my heart I could go back and redo it. Because now I am not just missing one class or one party, I am missing my last fall quarter at UCLA. And much more importantly, I’m missing precious time with my best friends, my sorority, my Student Alumni Association family and the many other incredible people at school. UCLA is paradise.

Take your health seriously. Don’t over-compromise your mental and physical well-being for anything. And enjoy yourself. Study hard, go to parties, stay up late – but do so while also being mindful of yourself, what your mind and body need. If you do this, you will have a more fantastic college experience than you ever thought possible. Be well, Bruins.