Ever since I began my education, I have always tried my best. Even in the most stressful of times I took comfort in knowing that meeting deadlines and studying would eventually lead me to my dreams. Aside from investing in my future, my education offered something much bigger: an escape.
My mother was arrested when I was younger and my world crashed around me. I developed extreme anxiety which made any task, especially involving school, all the more difficult. While working through my anxiety was difficult (and still is), I tried my best to never let it get in the way of my schooling. In fact, when it felt as if all the things I loved and cared about were falling apart around me, school became my saving grace.
School has always been a constant, sure force in my life. I’d wake up, go to school, learn new things, come home, do homework, repeat. I didn’t know it then, but choosing to dedicate myself to my schooling even in the most difficult of times would pay off in the future. When it came time to apply to college, I was more than prepared for higher education.
No, my anxiety hasn’t just disappeared, but I have a better handle on how to manifest these feelings in a more positive way. Since I am close to the end of my undergraduate career, I continue to remind myself that I will soon be facing another new obstacle: graduate school. However, I know that whatever stresses it brings me I will continue to develop new tools to better cope with the real world beyond school.
