Abby A.
Photography by Isa Vivona
If you’re reading this, take it one step at a time.
Hey, you.
Yes, you. If you’re anything like me, you stress about the grand scheme of things. For example, the end that humanity will come to, whether there is any meaning to suffering, and what you’re going to have for lunch next week. It truly does have a range; you tend to view everything from far away, even your own life. For me, I zoom out and move to the present. I’ll plan out when I will graduate from medical school and how soon I can begin my career based on my specialty. I’ll also try to find some time between that time to fall in love and get married. But first, I have to find time to date, maybe in medical school. But I have to get into medical school first, so I’ll need an exceptional MCAT score. But if I’m planning on taking a gap year, I’ll need to calculate the time and day I need to take it and prepare accordingly. But it’s not just about the MCAT; I’ll need a ton of volunteering and research hours if I want to make the cut. And the list goes on. Insert whatever this might look like for you.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed. I know. It feels like life is headed toward you at ninety miles per hour and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Where’s all the time to enjoy college? How are my friends doing, truly? How am I already graduating next year? How am I so focused on my life yet missing out on it at the same time?
If you’re reading this, I say these words for you and for me: take it one step at a time. You are doing enough. You are doing more than enough. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. But right now, you need to just look at the next step in front of you. Don’t just look from afar. Be here. Recognize that you can’t tackle everything at once. At each step, you’ll look back and see how far you’ve gone. You are not the same person as yesterday’s step. Trust that today’s step strengthens you for the next, whatever that may be. And remember that it’s more than just making it to the end. Your life is so much more than just making it to some idealized end.
Abby A., Northwestern University
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