The great Sylvester Stallone once said in his role as Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” This is something I and probably multiple students and faculty here on campus need to hear this month.

We are going into week 11. That means we are seven full weeks away from finals and going into the next chapter of whatever school year we are in.

For me, I’m going into my last semester as a panther. These last few weeks have been brutal and definitely have taken a toll on me in terms of hits.

If you read my column earlier this month, October is always the toughest month of the year for me. This month couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I’ve had to deal with family issues, sickness in my family, including two in my immediate family, and trying to stay on top of classes and do my best as the men’s soccer reporter here on campus.

Here’s my advice to anyone who can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel right now: It gets better. Life has that theme of hitting you pretty hard and you’re not meant to go through it alone or deal with tough things alone.

For me the support came in forms of friends and I spending time together. Whether it was last weekend watching movies or talking to friends or on Tuesday night getting to watch NBA opening night with some of my closest friends here on campus. All of it adds up and all of it gets my mind off the things I’ve been dealing with.

Also, kindness and words go a long way. In your college career you are blessed if you get professors who actually care about how you are mentally, emotionally and physically.

For me this came in two instances. One was from a friend reminding me that I’ve gone through some tough stuff before and I’ll get through this again.

The other was on a Wednesday afternoon when my former professor said to me “you are a good student.” Until last spring, I definitely was far off from a good student. So thank you both for those kind words.

So if you see someone struggling or going through some tough times, give words of kindness or sit down and actually spend time with them. Also, this is always a constant reminder to always check on your closest friends or people you care about.

You never know who might be going through something even worse and what two people can do to breathe life into one another and get back up and keep moving forward. As Rocky said one line later, “that’s how winning is done.”

Blake Faith is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at bmfaith@eiu.edu