For anyone who is struggling this semester – this is for you.

I know you may feel tired or lost. It happens to the best of us. Actually, it happens to all of us at least once in our lives. You have no idea how to fix things and that’s okay. No one has all the answers and you are not supposed to. Life can be messy, but sometimes the solution is not always clear. Sometimes, all you can do is take it day by day and that is okay.  You will figure it out, but that takes time and energy. Right now, you may have neither, but eventually you will. And when that day comes, you will be unstoppable. All you need right now is to rest (you deserve it). After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Just keep being you, the skillful fighter that you are. Everything will get better and you will thrive once again. But you need to take the time to let yourself rest and be rejuvenated. Life can be hard and being a college student is even harder, but that does not mean you have to do both all the time. Sometimes you can’t. You are only human after all. Whether you are tired, struggling with school or anything else that could be bothering you, I am here to tell you not to give up completely. So rest, mentally and physically. A lot has happened this past semester or even this past year and life isn’t going to stop throwing curve balls, but you will survive it. This I know.

It may seem impossible to juggle being an adult, having to go to classes and then, to throw on top of it all, worrying about grades. I get it. I struggle with the same thing. Each spring semester, it seems that I am so burned out that I have zero motivation to do anything other than to sleep and eat, but giving in and just quitting is not the solution. A quote that always helps me to remember that the grass will be greener on the other side, so to speak, is from a man named Jack Ma. “Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” I love this quote for the simple reason that Jack Ma doesn’t sugarcoat it. Yeah, today will probably be hard and tomorrow as well, but after that, it gets better.

So many people say it gets better and we are conditioned as individuals to just nod and smile when we hear this rather than think critically and actually accept the advice. I know it is difficult to fathom, but those people are right. It does get better; it just takes time. You may not find motivation or determination or even peace right now, but it will happen. Maybe not today or next week, but it will; all you need is a little bit of hope.

Sincerely,

A fellow struggling student