These words are for all of you, as you end this semester, or even end your time in college. As students, I think this has been a beyond challenging situation. It can feel as though no one else seems to understand how crazy it is to be faced with the trivialities of turning in assignments and attending classes through a screen, as the world literally burns around us.

This year has really taken me down so many paths and twists and turns, and at this point, I really have lost count of the lessons I've learned. I see within myself the tendency to overlook markers that signify the end of something. It seems as though I barely give myself a second to just "be." There is always some other project or deadline looming off in the distance.

This semester, leaving behind my time spent living independently both at school and abroad, felt like a regression of sorts. In the purest sense, it has felt like going back in time and reevaluating the years that made me, me. Moving back home was not what I expected of this year, but like many blessings, it has proven invaluable. I think if we let ourselves, looking around ourselves we find so many of our challenges answered in the surroundings around us.

I know now that I owe it to myself to slow down. No one else is going to open my eyes to what I really need to see. No one else is going to step in and stop time for me. This is because no matter how many tasks stack atop my plate the first, last, and most important task will always have to be caring for myself.

In all honesty, I have no answers for what lies ahead. I will, however, push you all to breathe in this present moment. Take a solid second to sit with the accomplishments you carry with you, no matter how small.

Part of being young is feeling everything, and feeling these arguably small moments of your life, with an indescribable intensity. On top of all of this, we're stuck inside, with our thoughts, and it only makes sense that we are probably feeling similarly about the almost stagnant chaos we're being subjected to. We see these days as immeasurable shortcomings that we will never be repaid for, but I don't think that is the only side to this coin.

As I close my eyes, I see the small and large things I will cherish from this time with my family and also myself. I also think of how, in a shocking way, this has been a beautiful time, however far away I am from my friends. I'm hoping we can all be a little kinder to ourselves as we face the end of this chapter, and, in a strange way, I'm excited to see what lies ahead.