As I finished all of my finals and packed my last box to go home, it really hit me that the year was over. In a flash, my first year of college, the year I had been anticipating in excitement for my entire life... was over. While most people say, “it feels like we started college yesterday” I say, “I remember being so excited to become a second grader like it was yesterday.” The older I get, the more I realize how quickly time passes by.

If I can accomplish anything by writing this article, I hope that someone will realize how short life is and how you should cherish every moment, because you will never have the same one again. I regret not doing the things I wanted to because I was afraid. And I regret having regrets, because life shouldn’t be about the chances you didn’t take, but rather about the ones you did. I want to remember the times I went out of my comfort zone and pushed myself to experience new things. I want to remember when I was free of the worries and doubt that kept me from doing what I wanted to do.

I recently watched a very inspiring video, Everybody Dies, But Not Everybody Lives, made by Richard Williams (aka Prince Ea). While the whole video was eye opening, there was one line in the video that really hit me “doubt has killed more dreams than failure ever did.” I replayed this section of the video multiple times, baffled by what I had just heard. Logically, it makes sense that “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” But I had never really thought about it before. By not attempting to reach for your dreams, you are denying a part of who you are. Do you just give up? No. You stand your ground and push through every obstacle until you reach your goal.

To those of you who have reached your goal, if you had only wished upon a star, do you think you would have made it this far?

You must work for what you want, because life will not make the lemonade for you.