Words to the Undergrads

So below is what I wrote on Facebook to my friends still in school at CLU or any university for that matter it applies to. Just some words of encouragement to get through the hard times that we face in college. 

Stressed. Overwhelmed. Confused. Ahhh!!!

So lately I've heard a lot of above from you. Let me tell you a secret -- if someone isn't feeling that way, they are probably lying to themselves or just extremely optimistic to the point that they forget about these feelings. For those of you who know me really well; you know that I am constantly ALL of those things. It's probably good that I'm not longer in college then right? WRONG. Oh man, taking a year off is definitely challenging for someone like me with a futuristic mindset who always has everything figured out.

So lets get to my words of encouragement that I tried to tell myself in school all the time. I'm sure many of you are overwhelmed with midterms, papers, extracurriculars, and future plans. Right? Right. So here are my 5 nuggets of wisdom for you:

1) What you are doing now, is a very SMALL piece of the bigger goal you have in life. Don't let yourself get bogged down by the homework, papers, and responsibilities of your extracurriculars.. You are on the current path for a reason.

2) No one said life was easy (cliche right?). But seriously, how boring would life be if everything in life was easy and you never had a challenge? I don't know about you but as much as I hate the stress, I really enjoy the feeling of accomplishment; even the accomplishment of procrastination.

3) Your grades on homework, tests, papers, and the overall semester grade are not a representation of who you are as a person. I'll tell you right now that as much as I would have loved to graduate with honors, I didn't and I'm okay with that. Why? Well, I graduated with two degrees, a 3.4 GPA, a kick-ass resume, a year of study abroad experience, and TONS more memories from CLU. That is way more important to me as it helped build the person I became -- classes and graduating were honestly just a stop on my way to my bigger future.

4) I DARE YOU, to blow off being productive for one night and do something for yourself. Hang out with your friends. Play video games. Watch movies. Heck, go out to Hollywood or the beach for a night. Guess what, you'll be okay the next day and you'll be 100x more productive because you took some time for yourself.

5) Finally, enjoy the time. With what? Everything. Trust me when I tell you, it is really different once you leave college. Remember this is a time of discovery. You don't have to know every step and do it correctly every time. We won't talk about how many times I took the same steps over and over again and still did it wrong. Don't rush the process. Sure, pull all-nighters working on homework, studying, or whatever else academically, but don't forget about pulling an all-nighter with your friends and classmates.

Remember -- you are what you choose to be. You choose how you define yourself, not the things you do or don't do. Confused? Be confused. Explore everything and realize that you have the opportunity of a lifetime right now. At this age, we can travel, study, intern, work, and do a million other things that allow us to grow. Don't grow UP...just grow. Good luck with papers, midterms, and anything else going in your life right now. Let's just say, I actually miss this feeling you all have currently!


Love A-Ram