Profile- Shae Morris

By Kate Haddon

Lincoln’s counselors aren’t just there to for schedule changes and applications. Counselor Shae Morris shows no fear in stepping up and starting the discussion about mental health, academic toxicity, and self care.

“I worry a lot about Lincoln students in regards to self care” Morris said, “I worry that what people are doing is always chasing that goal, and I don’t know how much time is built in to valuing self care. It seems like a lot of the value is placed on how well you do verses how well you are taking care of yourself.”

Lincoln's students are struggling with academic toxicity and the constant chase to be the best, there isn’t one single answer but Morris shared her thoughts on the toxic environment.

“I think it has to be a whole community effort, which is hard right? It is just pressure from all around, I think some of it is even college pressure and just the college atmosphere in general.”

Morris is in search of an answer of moving past the academic pressure.

“It would be interesting to talk to other high schools that are similar to ours to see how their students are perceiving it.”

The world we live in has become so competitive it's hard to balance everything we want to do but Lincoln students have a lot of resources to help with that, but as nothing is it is not perfect.

Morris said, “I wish people were more open about treatment. I think we are pretty good at this, at this school, but not being afraid to reach out when you know your friend or someone you know is struggling, go find somebody. Not being afraid to ask.”

In the real world, there aren’t counselors, phycologists, and social workers ready for you whenever. Morris touched on some resources you can access as a graduating student.

“I think that everyone has their phones all the time, and people should make it a point to have something in their phone that is easily accessible to them, like the crisis line for example. I think that people should make an effort to get to know the resources in whatever community they are going to before they get there”

We hear the terms, but what does it mean to care for yourself and prioritize your mental health.

“Self-care just means putting yourself first” Morris said “Academics can’t always come first, sports can’t always come first, at some point you reach your level.”

Morris said “I think we are getting better about teachers recognizing all the pressures that students are facing and recognizing that their class isn’t the only one. There's not one class there is eight and all eight are giving this amount of homework, so I think we continue to get better at recognizing these things.”