About Me & My Story<3
Hello! My name is Madison Rudden and I go to Old Dominion University for Professional Writing with a minor in Political Science, I’m digital writer who is open to collaborating with student organizations and/or professional entities. I want to thank you for taking the time and reading my website, while I try to spread awareness on Mental Health and ways that Social Media is affecting it.
During 2020, like many people, I struggled a lot with my own mental health and I had many ups and downs throughout this time. I was a freshman in High School when quarantine started, which is already a hard time for a lot of people but quarantine didn’t help. I was struggling for a while with my mental health, and I felt like I was in a rut that I couldn’t get out of. Which I know that was a feeling that I know many people also felt. I was noticing that I was on social media a lot more than I should be; I had a bad sleep schedule, gaining bad habits, had so much screen time because this was the rise of TikTok, and some more things.
What really helped me was coming back to hobbies that I use to enjoy a lot like drawing, painting, reading books, playing video games, and finding different ways to spend time with my friends though we couldn’t leave the house. Gaming was the biggest help for me because I found friends and communities that helped me take my mind off of most of the negativity. To this day, I still friends and talk to these people who I started becoming talking to then. But since then, I noticed how much time I spend on social media and screen time all together I’ve been trying to cut back and I’ve noticed a big change in my mental health.
my first ever pc gaming set up!
My dad and I built my PC together once things started opening up again during 2020-2021! This first set up meant a lot to me because my dad and mom are separated, and at the time I primarily lived with my mom in High School. So when I got to spend time with him for the first time in person, other than over the phone, it made me so excited and happy! When we got home with all of the parts, my uncle who works with computers helped us put it all together and it one of my favorite memories with my dad and uncle!
One of my first drawings after trying to get back into it!
Though drawing can be a simple task, I feel like it’s one of the hobbies that always gets looked over. It may not be the best drawing I’ve done, and I may not have known what I was drawing. I just let my brain and hands do their thing, and drew whatever came to mind. Seeing this now compared to then, I feel like this was me starting to let go of everything that I was personally dealing with and it was the step in the right direction. This doesn’t always pertain to art, but getting back into little hobbies like this that always made you happy I feel like is so important!
The reason I made this because I feel like there should be more awareness for people who also are or have struggling with similar problems as I have experienced. I happy that as of the recent years, that mental health is finally being talked about more openly and is now recognized as just as important as physical health. Even when you move forward, I’ve noticed that past struggles will always stay with you even if your healed from the point in your life and that’s okay you’re never alone! Healing isn’t always the same per person, but having awareness and support can make a real difference.:)