Before freshman year, when people said mental illnesses, the first thing that came to my mind was schizophrenia. Even though I had no idea how to spell the word let alone what it actually entailed, it was still my first thought. I remember hearing about it on a TV show one day, and for some odd reason it stuck with me.

I always thought that mental illnesses were something that were impossible to function with. The words alone sound so extreme and dangerous that I always thought it would be obvious to tell if someone had been diagnosed with any type of mental illness.

I could not have been farther from the truth.

I met Lauren Chancellor* about a month before school started for our freshmen year. When we first met, all I remember is her shiny, upbeat personality. It seemed to me that this girl had never been sad a day in her life.

We went our separate ways until Puma Days, when we got our schedules. As fate would have it, we had two classes together and lunch. Again, that sunny personality was as prominent as ever.

But one day during the spring, I noticed something weird. She was not in her usual cheery mood. I did not think anything of it– it was finals season and it was getting stressful for everybody. I thought she was just tired. This mood became more apparent to me. It became an everyday observation of mine. Within weeks, she was diagnosed with severe depression by a psychiatrist.

There were bad times, and then there were really bad times. But I could tell she was getting better. Ironically, the things I remember most about the whole time period when her depression was bad were those random days where a smile could not leave her cheeks, and her laughter was on constant repeat. When her depression seemed to subside, for only a few hours. Those were the days I learned to appreciate because not only did it mean progress, but it meant that she was back to herself.

She is still fighting her fight today, but she has made enormous amounts of progress. Today, she is the happy Lauren I met over summer with bad days few and far in between.

One of the things her illness has taught me is that depression is not a mood. It is not something you feel every once in awhile; it is a chemical imbalance in the brain that makes it impossible for someone to get happy.

However the most important thing this has taught me is resilience. Her journey has inspired me so much, and seeing her overcome all the obstacles that she had  been faced with makes me not only proud to call her my best friend, but it has taught me that no matter what, happiness is possible.