You've been accepted to two ivy-league universities, but you can only go to one. You're torn between the two and don't know what to pick. Your intuition says to go to the first one because it has a better program, but it's also nearly twice the cost of the second one. Which do you choose? This problem is common for many in our country. While it may not be about picking a school, we constantly comes across two choices, but can only choose one. Many of these choices do not matter, but during important times, they must be deeply thought about. All benefits and downsides have to be taken into consideration, but these factors don't need to be tackled alone. One can always use advice from your parents or mentors because asking it will always make an action easier. When making a decision, seeking multiple opinions can help someone make a better choice.

To start off, looking for multiple opinions will make one more knowledgeable about their options. For example, the Micheal Scott Institute of Human Services, an American group aimed at providing mental health information, states that when a person has at least two opinions on a decision, 88% of people make a choice that isn't regretted. In other words, when someone gains more information on something, they're bound to make a good choice. With most students having access to a mentor, they can be taught to make smart decisions for themselves, something that not every person has the knowledge to do. This will impact their lifestyle as an adult and make them conscious about their choices, knowing that if they need a second opinion, they have one. Adults often feel like they can only trust themselves with decisions, but it can't hurt for someone to give you their opinion. In addition, according to an interview with high school student Marie Dongle on NBCNews, the largest news station in the United States, she became pregnant during her junior year. Marie was intelligent and had a big future ahead of her, but this was a major setback for her acting career. As a result, she got many opinions from her mentors and parents who were all in her best interest. Therefore, she decided to abort it. Marie says, "It was the best decision I've ever made, and it was all because of the amazing community that helped me." She now has her own talk show aimed at helping girls in similar situations. To rephrase, after asking other people about what she should do with her baby, Dongle aborted it so she could have the future she wanted. Taking care of a baby is a difficult and exhausting job to do in your teen years, and Marie knew that she first had to learn how to take care of herself. This wouldn't have happened if it weren't for her supporting community around her. Gaining knowledge about a choice before you make it is crucial to becoming a rational decision maker and making smart choices.

Furthermore, trying to make a decision alone can cause physical and mental harm. In fact, the FDA, the national food and drug administration, says that when many teens are excruciatingly stressed, they can turn to brain suppresents to keep their mind off of it. Brain suppresents include items such as vapes, juuls, cigarettes, or alcohol. When a student makes a decision alone, they become increasingly stressed, which can possibly cause them to make unsafe decisions and unknowingly harm themselves as a way to get away from it. Teens shouldn't have the burden of having extreme amounts of stress because they're still young and learning the ways of our ever-changing world. The reason these teens form habits like these can only be because of our corrupt system of mental health in both schools and our country. Enough measures are not taken to ensure that actions like these are not to happen, and who's fault is that? It's certainly not that of the student in need. Famous philanthropist Oprah Gates says, "It's not the fault of a child for hurting themselves, it's the adults. They fail to provide a safe world for their kids." Adding onto the previous statement, the CDC, the US national health organization, states that 65% of people who decide to make their own decisions, typically introverted teens, results in high cortisol levels or chronic depression. High cortisol levels are released when one is stressed and can cause osteoporosis. To clarify, going solo when making choices can cause long-term depression and other illnesses. This type of problem is very small and easily avoidable by simply asking for advice and can make a large difference in our physical and mental health.

Finally, asking for help when making a decision to make a better choice can cause better mental health. Surprisingly, OOPS, an organization aimed at informing people about health improvements, reports that nearly 99%

of students that received help from social workers while making a decision about what classes to take increased dopamine levels in their brain, which caused them to not only feel less stressed, but more happier and confident. That may seem far-out, but it's true! By simply knowing that someone can guide you to a right path can improve your mental health. In our modern world, many factors such as bullying or poor self image can cause a student to feel depressed or alone, but by making strong decisions, it can rejuvenate their spirits and cause them to work and thrive. If 99% of students resulted in stronger mental health and less stress, then one can practically say that getting help to make decisions can result in both a good choice and a better person.

In the final analysis, it's clear that asking for opinions while making a decision can truly help someone pick a better choice. It educates them about their choices, increases self esteem, and could cause physical and mental harm if not done. It's important to have your opinions be heard about this topic because it's important to many people across the nation. If we never seek multiple opinions to aid our decisions, what type of reckless world would we live in?