With the start of May, there are many things to look forward to, such as the start of summer break, going on a bike ride, camping trips, and many other fun activities. With the existence of summer, people overlook things that May celebrates, such as mental health awareness, military appreciation, National Bike Month, and Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Not only does it focus on things like anxiety and depression, but it also brings awareness to things such as psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, behavioral elements like eating disorders, and neurological disorders like ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. When you hear the words mental health you don’t always think about neurological problems. Mental Health gets talked about a lot but most people never act on it.
May is also a Military Appreciation Month, along with Memorial Day on May 25th. Memorial Day is a day to truly appreciate people who have passed who were in the service, or more notably, died in duty. But for the month as a whole, it’s to appreciate everyone who has helped out in the military in any way, wether the indevidual was a part of the air force or the navy.
With the Grand Valley having a large number of bikers and also a large amount of tourism from its well-known bike trails, it’s hard not to mention National Bike Month. Fruita hosts multiple bike-related events and overall is very supportive of the biking community. Palisade even thought its are most famous for its peaches, it also is known for bike trails.
Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month also deserves recognition. The reason why it’s in May is that on May 7th, the first Japanese immigrant came to America, and other important moments, as stated by the United Way of Indiana. They also bring up the fact that AAPI started off as a week long celebration starting on may 4th but in 1990 President George H.W. Bush made it a whole mouth.
There are many things to celebrate in May, along with things like Cinco de Mayo, a day to celebrate the Mexican win against the French in 1862, and Mother’s Day to show gratitude and appreciation to the women who were there for you. With all of these different things to appreciate and celebrate in May, often some of these things get overlooked or forgotten about, but with the month marking the start of summer, it makes May even better.
