Sophie C.
Emma Joseph
If you’re reading this, remember to be where your feet are.
There’s always a “next best thing.”
I remember growing up thinking life would be better if only I could get on to the next stage. In elementary school, it was middle school. In middle school, it was high school. In high school, it was college. Every step came with this unspoken belief that life would be better if only I were there.
And then I got here.
And somehow, that feeling didn’t go away. While in college, I’ve kept my eyes fixed on what’s next: the next accomplishment, the next leadership role, the next thing to fill my schedule. I told myself that once I got there, I’d finally slow down and feel settled.
But the truth is, when I live like that, I miss where I actually am.
Even here, at Wake Forest, where we’re surrounded by driven, passionate people, it’s easy to feel like you should always be doing more. If your schedule isn’t full, you feel behind. If you don’t land the internship, you question the path that you’re on. There’s always something else to chase or prove.
It’s so easy to get caught up in that cycle. I’m still in it. But now that I am in college, I’ve found myself missing the things I wished away. I miss the silliness of elementary school and the overdramatic life of middle school. I miss the hectic life of high school. Moments I once rushed through suddenly feel important.
Even sitting down to write this has made me realize that it is so easy to spend your whole life looking ahead, only to look back and wish you stayed a little longer in the moments you were so ready to leave.
Lately, I’ve been reminding myself to be where my feet are. To sit in the moment I’m in, even if it’s busy or imperfect. To look around now and then and take it all in! The late nights, the conversations, the people sitting with me in class, the things I’ve been wishing for for so long.
The “next best thing” causes us to overlook the moments that matter, the moments happening right now in the present.
If you’re reading this, you’re doing awesome. You work so hard. Whether you’re a freshman trying to figure out what you want the next three years (and beyond) to look like, a sophomore looking ahead to studying abroad or another semester at Wake, a junior counting down the days until senior year, or a senior preparing for what comes next:
Be where your feet are. Soak it all in. You are doing more than enough!
Sophie C., Wake Forest University
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