Emma O.
Photography by Peyton Mears
If you’re reading this, fall in love with the journey, not the outcome.
When we think about the goals we want to accomplish in the future, we normally tie our happiness into these goals we want to achieve. For example, we think that being stressed now will pay off in the future, because we will be happy with a degree. We think that overworking ourselves now will pay off in the future, because we will be happy working a high-income job. However, what we fail to realize is that the journey we are currently on to achieve these goals, is what will allow us to chase what we are trying to achieve: happiness.
We have tied success to happiness, but in reality, we can achieve this feeling throughout the journey. While being a college student, it is hard to separate your personal and academic life - especially when living in a college town and everyone is here for the same goal: to obtain a degree. However, only having this mindset is difficult to juggle all other aspects in your life that also shapes who you are as a person. You may be an undergraduate who is currently focusing on studying for a difficult exam, worrying about graduate school offers, or looking for a job once you graduate. However, going through these sorts of hardships throughout your college journey does not define the quality of the kind of person you are. What shapes those qualities is who you decide to become when being faced with such challenges.
It is easy to lose track on what makes us happy in life, especially when trying to achieve a goal that we think defines our happiness. However, understanding that you are a person just as much as you are a student, will help you realize that there is so much more life to live despite studying for the difficult exam, worrying about graduate school offers, or looking for a job once you graduate. These characteristics in your life, constitute who you are as a person, and not solely created by the kind of person you are at school. The qualities and characteristics of your life contradict your identity, not just the classes you are taking and the grade you get on a certain exam.
Recognizing the beauties within your life outside of the scope of school, will make you feel reassured that all else will be okay. This is a gentle reminder that you are one step closer to who you want to become, by realizing the errors you made, learning from them, and growing as a person. If you are willing to do that, then you are a stronger person than you allow yourself to be capable of being.
Lastly, I'd like to emphasize that being in this school is for the four years of our lifespan. It is reassuring to think that in the grand scheme of things, what we are going through is just one chapter of the book of our lives. Think about all the other phases in life you will go through. The moments you are stressed about, will soon turn into beautiful memories, realizing it shaped you into who you are, and the person who you have always wanted to become.
Emma O., Florida State University
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