Alternative school programs should be emphasized

Since I was a freshman, I have watched my friends and acquaintances have breakdowns over schoolwork, crying into AP textbooks. I have watched myself feel pressured to add as many high-level classes as I could into my schedule, discarding my mental and physical well-being in the name of future college admittance. Eventually, I even saw myself go to my guidance counselor crying day after day because I simply couldn’t do the routine anymore.
It was never a problem with Central, contrary to popular belief. For the most part, I love it here. Most of my teachers put forth an effort to engage me in lessons, but I had been drained of my desire to learn.
Maybe I have school anxiety, maybe I have eighteen other mental disorders that I could have easily diagnosed myself with, but sticking a label onto why I didn’t want to be in school anymore wasn’t doing me any good. It’s a feeling that’s indescribable unless you have been there, crying while taking an English exam and writing down each and every one of your feelings instead of an essay about The Scarlet Letter (yes, that happened. Not my proudest moment).
For a long while, I beat myself up for not being able to just quietly struggle through school like everyone else I knew. Quite frankly, if I kept going through high school, I’m not sure if I would have made it out the other end. Being stressed to an incredible extent has become not only normal but serves as some sort of twisted rite of passage for AP/IB/honors level students, so I saw my suffering as nothing out of the ordinary.
After about a month of dread and tears and falling grades, I went to my counselor (again) and she recommended the UNO/OPS Middle College program. I was absolutely terrified of it. Moreso, I was absolutely terrified of not being normal. Going to an alternative school program has such a negative connotation, and I didn’t want to be a ‘non-traditional student’.
Regardless of my preconceived ideas of the program, I ended up transitioning into doing half days at the middle college and the other half still at Central. It all happened so fast that I barely even had time to process the change or think about the stigma surrounding the abnormality of it.
The program is incredible. I have a teacher who developed an entire class for me so that I can read and respond to essays that are about socio-political issues. I am receiving one credit a quarter instead of one per semester, and next year I have UNO college courses at my disposal for absolutely free.
I would say that the only regret I have about the middle college is not finding out about it sooner. By discounting my suffering I only prolonged my struggle. There is such a thin line between healthy amount of stress regarding school and the kind of anxiety that is brain-numbing, and students are too often taught to ignore the distinction. By walking that tightrope between healthy and unhealthy, I threw myself into the deep end. Education is a fundamental right, and school districts need to be doing more to ensure that those students who cannot handle traditional schooling are getting the support that they need. I was lucky enough to receive that support.