College is an exciting journey full of new experiences, good and bad days, and moments that will carry you through your entire life. They say our college years are the best years of our life, and I am not saying they're not, but college can also be extremely overwhelming. As a rising senior, please take my advice and always keep these words in the back of your head when navigating through college and the rest of your life.
1. Never forget who you are and what you are capable of.
During the years of struggling academically before being diagnosed with my auditory processing disorder and Dyslexia, I often wondered why things seemed so much harder or took so much longer than they did for most of my peers. This often left me feeling a lack of confidence deep within myself. I worked hard to overcome this weakness of mine, trying to always remember what my mom told me when I was a little girl. “You can do anything in this world Paige, if you do it with passion.” As a naturally very passionate person, I strived to embody this saying. It wasn’t until just the last few months that I realized my mom’s favorite saying was coming to life. Joining PRSSA during the fall of my junior year, I quickly became excited about the new organization I was a part of. That excitement turned into a strong eagerness to get involved, and that involvement eventually led to a true passion.
2. Don’t cheat yourself, it will only hurt you in the end.
Taking the easy way out may seem easier in the moment, but it will ultimately just hurt you in the long run. When you cheat in life, whether it’s on an exam, or in the workplace, you are only cheating yourself. You are disrespecting and discrediting yourself. You are not pushing yourself to your greatest potential, but instead you are limiting and cutting yourself short.
3. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. Always follow your heart.
Day in and day out we are faced with little and sometimes very big decisions we must make. These decisions can sometimes be really hard, but if you follow your heart and ultimately chose what is ethically right, you will know you made the right decision. That right decision will ultimately allow you to go to bed at night feeling good about yourself and your actions.
4. Push yourself, but respect your limits.
One of the greatest gifts humans have is the ability to do anything we put our minds to. We don’t know our true limits until we push ourselves, come out of our comfort zones, and do the impossible. Nothing in life is easy: you have to work for it, achieve it, and eventually own it.
5. Don’t give up when the going gets tough.
Life can be tough, it can make you want to give in and quit. It is crucial to never lose sight of the bigger picture and always remember that your struggle is just temporary. Even when it seems impossible and there is no light, you have to believe things are going to work out. When you believe this, mark my words, everything will eventually get better little by little, because just like my favorite life motto states, “everything happens for a reason.”
This post was written by Paige Nicholas, Assistant Conference Coordinator