Sophomore year has just begun for me, and I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’ve been thinking about where I was last year versus where I am now. Mainly, I’ve been thinking about challenges, and how I perceive and face them.
As someone who is a self-proclaimed overachiever, I was confident that I was someone who LOVED challenges, and was ready to face them head on. I would run for office in whatever clubs I was a part of, sign up for the hardest classes, and compete in tournaments whenever I had the chance. I thrived under pressure, and challenges were not something daunting to me in the slightest.
I was wrong.
Even with just a mere year of college under my belt, I realized these past couple weeks that the things I would do in high school (and even freshman year of college) were not challenging for me at all. Sure they might have been some of the more difficult options that were available, but I think that deep down I knew I would still succeed in the end. Going in, I was confident in my abilities and was sure that I would be pleased with the outcome.
After spending this past week absolutely terrified about certain classes and other things I have going on, I came to understand that I was never actually challenging myself before the way I’m challenging myself now.
Now, for the first time ever, I’m scared. Scared that I can’t handle the workload. Scared that I won’t be good enough. Scared that I’ll fall behind and won’t be able to catch up. However, with that being said, I’m still really excited because this is the first time I feel like I’m actually immersing myself with knowledge and learning things that are intriguing and valuable! The classes I’ve chosen to take this year are way out of my comfort zone. They are TRULY challenging to me in ways that nothing else has ever been before. It’s definitely a little nerve wracking, but I feel as though it’s given me a newfound sense of determination and passion for learning that I haven’t felt in a while.
I wanted to share this with you because I want to urge you to take a step back and reevaluate what you’re doing this upcoming year and what your goals are. Ask yourself- Am I doing things that will challenge me and push me to grow? If you are- great! Keep it up! But if you find yourself answering “no” to the previous question, I encourage you to take a leap of faith and try something that scares you! Push the boundaries, and I guarantee that you’ll find that you’re much stronger and more capable than you think. Wishing you all the best this year!!
