alex eisler
Photography by Greer Diaz
If you’re reading this, take a moment to listen to what makes your heart sing.
As the San Francisco Bay came into sight and my flight from Madison descended towards SFO, I felt tears well up in my eyes and exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Every emotion that I had neatly folded away all semester seemed to crash down as the wheels hit the runway.
For the next week, and through most of that summer, I found myself sifting through moments of my freshman year and asking myself, “Who am I and where did I go?”
Change is never easy, especially at nineteen. That semester marked one of the first times I felt myself evolving into someone I didn’t quite recognize, and it was a tough feeling to grapple with.
Growing up, I always knew what brought me joy and how to share it with others: be kind, smile, excel in school, play hard in practice, and push myself in virtually every direction. With stability guiding me, I felt unafraid. My world was predictable, leaving little room for mistakes or for sitting with disappointment.
College completely unraveled that rhythm - my days became uncertain and habits unsteady. A January wisdom tooth surgery gone wrong left me in a seemingly irreparable state of puffiness, and I had just survived my first “real” winter, only adding to my insecurities and sense of feeling lost, no matter how much I gua-shua’ed (lol). By the summer of 2023, I knew I needed to rebuild and rediscover steadiness, grace, and myself.
I have always been aware of how I feel at my best: being connected to friends and family, appreciating the world around me, and taking life’s ups and downs as they come. I love laughing with loved ones, running my favorite trail, and feeling the effortlessness of a perpetual smile. I chase this sensation in everything that I do, but in my reflection, I realized that the pace of college had pulled my focus outward, towards comparison and validation, rather than inward, a perspective I had always taken pride in.
As I move through this new chapter of independence, I have realized the importance of practicing constant gratitude, gentleness, and listening to those moments that make me truly happy. I cherish walking my dogs on the beach, hearing my grandmother’s voice on the phone, group-facetiming home friends, hosting dinner parties on the porch of my senior house with my best friends, blasting a song as I run one more mile, listening to a professor lecture about their favorite topic, and traveling Australia for 5 months while meeting so many new faces along the way.
These are all moments where I have felt my heart practically bursting out of my chest, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be able to experience them.
So, if you’re reading this - take a breath. Reflect on conversations or moments that make your heart swell. Use these feelings as fuel, control the things you can, believe that other people are rooting for you and your success, and keep showing up for yourself.
P.S. Enthusiasm is contagious. The love you have for life and the energy you put into the world are felt by those around you - especially the ones who love you. Be the reason somebody else’s heart sings, too.
Alex E., University of Wisconsin
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