During the four years that students spend in high school, there is one phrase we do not ordinarily hear:

“It’s OK. You’re OK.”

I don’t mean in the context of, “It’s OK that you forgot to get this book out of your locker,” or, “You’re OK to run at Saturday’s meet.”

I mean in a general sense. We are told on a daily basis by our well-meaning teachers that the college search is “tough” and that the College Board is “ridiculous” and that it’s all just a big “competition.” We trudge home to our five-plus hours of homework, telling ourselves that, yes, this is what we are supposed to do.

Maybe it is what some people are supposed to do. But we, as a student body, seem to have forgotten the balance that we are told to strike. We think we are as balanced as can be, but yet, the responsibilities pile up faster than the half-finished books on my nightstand. We are left frantic, arms flailing, mind racing, trying to keep ourselves, our parents and our teachers happy — and focusing on getting that A!

If this isn’t you, then you should stop reading and start writing your book instructing others on how to be perfect.

But if this is you, I’m sure you’ve experienced that sinking feeling — the one that wakes you up in the middle of the night because you “forgot to print out those forms” or “turn that government or English paper to turnitin.com.”

And suddenly, life becomes a wildlife documentary in the Sahara- just a bunch of carnivores (or herbivores, you do you) trying to fight each other for that last shred of meat on the carcass of extra credit and participation points and SAT scores and Common App profiles… And the list goes on.

At least, that’s what life in high school has felt like for me, as if some invisible hand has programmed my life to the exact specifications of Shark Week. Except this week has been four years, and caused rifts between my parents and me, tensions among my friends and probably more than one teacher to dislike me.

I know I’m not alone.

But, you know what? It’s OK. You’re OK.

Even Shark Week has commercials. You can still flick the channel to a rerun of “The Office” and end the carnage on your screen. I think the hardest thing to remember when you are in high school is that someone can help you.

I know that it can can feel like you’re all alone, like no one understands you, like you’re suffering while everyone else flits on by, discussing their latest haul at Urban while you’re still sitting there wallowing in pain.

No one will understand exactly what you are going through — after all, your pain is your pain, and no one else’s. And it may seem like the best alternative is to isolate yourself, and make sure that your issues become yours and no one else’s to deal with.

But that’s not right. We are an interdependent race — we need interaction to remain human, to be truly alive. I promise you, you’re not burdening those who truly care by reaching out and whispering that you need help.

Wake up every morning remembering there are a million other people in the same boat you’re in, whatever your “boat” may be. So don’t balance as if you’re on a trapeze or at the edge of the skyscraper, like your life depends on it. Balance like you’re on the edge of the sidewalk or at the edge of a kiddy diving board — if you fall, you’ll be alright.

So go out there, and find the help you need. It is not easy, it can feel like you are flailing blindly in the dark, trying to find that switch that will flick all of your problems away, but that will not ever truly happen. It is truly one of the hardest things to get over depression (I speak from personal experience), but bringing it up is the first step to recovery.

Your illness, a family member’s illness, abuse, identity issues — they’ll never truly leave you.

They will remain within you, like an internal scar that will never quite heal.

But a scar is better than a gaping wound, and that wound can only be stitched up with your willingness to acknowledge it, and move from there. Do not stay trapped within the mindset that something, somehow will change. It’s not your fault, but that doesn’t mean you cannot take charge and meld your life into what you want, need, it to be

Because it truly is OK, and you truly are OK.