Dear Whoever May Be Reading This,

You probably feel disappointed right now because you were not able to graduate on time. You were probably scared to tell your family that you have to take an extra year of college that you have to tackle, and you feel like you are wasting more money than you thought just to have an education and get your degree. I know you may feel bad right now, but I'm here to tell you that you are not alone, and it is okay if you have to take more than four years to complete your college education.

Everyone tends to give other expectations on when to do certain things and often tell others that they should do those things before a specific time. It's not limited to when to get your Bachelor's degree, but also when to get married, when to have children, when to start your career, etc. Don't let any of that pressure get in the way of obtaining your degree, because all that's going to matter in the end is that you achieved your goal. Sometimes, reaching your goals can take a little bit longer than you expected them to take, and that's okay.

Take it from me, I had to change my major several times during my first half of college since I did not come into college with a clear picture of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I switched majors a few times between the end of my freshman year and the beginning of my sophomore year until I settled with the major I currently have, and after taking a few classes and having a few internships within the major, I discovered that I loved that major and I wanted to pursue it.

I did feel disappointed at first when I found out I still had to take an extra semester in order to finish my studies, but later, I realized that one extra semester is not the end of the world and that I will still be graduating no matter what the outcome is. I also realized that the extra semester can give me extra time to mentally prepare myself for the real world ahead of me since I also didn't feel too ready to tackle on the real world head-on. The anxiety about graduating got to me at first, but I also had some time to let the feeling settle first.

No one should ever be pressured to do something at a specific time. I understand that seeing all your friends graduate and you still having requirements to finish is going to feel disappointing at first, but when you get your degree, you will realize that all of your hard work paid off. Many of the best things in life take time, and you should not be too hard on yourself if you do not get something done when you thought you were going to get it done.