Over the past two years, I’ve learned what it’s like to hit rock bottom. To feel like a failure. When I first came to UWO, I was prepared to begin with a strong start and get high grades to ensure a smooth journey through my academic career. I had always been the student in high school that did not have to study very hard to get good grades, or the subjects just came to me naturally. Being the naïve college freshman I was, I thought I would have no trouble adjusting to all the classes that I would be taking. Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.

I had decided to continue my studies in foreign language and take a Spanish class and since I had taken a college-level course my senior year, I was placed in a junior level class as a freshman. (Yikes!) Apparently I was not as good at the language as I thought and started getting my first very low marks on assignments and assessments. I was determined not to let it break me, but with all the other classes I was taking I started drowning in stress. I had went out and worked with my professors, studying extra hard and paying extra attention in class. However, it was not enough. Along the way my motivation and faith in myself had dwindled. I had already struggled with depression and all this pressure and expectations not being met put me back into a slump that I couldn’t shake myself out of.

The end of the semester showed that my efforts were no match for college. I had been placed on academic probation and I came home feeling like a disappointment; I was disappointed in the student that I had become. I spent the next two semesters trying to pull myself back together. I started going to the counseling center on campus to talk to someone about handling all the different stress I was facing, since trying to take on the world by myself wasn’t a reasonable approach. Personally, I put a lot of pressure on myself and if I don’t meet my goals I get easily discouraged. Thankfully, I had started opening up to my parents more about what was going on and they helped support me in getting help and reminding me that I was good enough to be in college in the first place. I was also fortunate enough to meet three wonderful new friends who kept me grounded as I was rebuilding my academic reputation.

This past semester I have finally brought myself back from the depths. I was taken off of academic probation, I pulled my GPA up substantially so now I’m able to get into all my major classes without a problem (for the most part; got to love those small class sizes), and landed an internship in my career field at the university. To top it all off, I’ve been genuinely happy.

I think the most important lesson anyone can learn in their life is how to handle their hardships. I was looking at all the mistakes I made in the wrong way. Instead of letting myself fall and laying there in the mess I created, I needed to learn what went wrong and move on, making sure to avoid the same wrong ways that caused me to fail in the first place.

For anyone who is going through something similar and is feeling hopeless, just remember this: you have gotten this far in life and you will continue to go even farther. The most rewarding thing is taking a step back after all the work you have put in and seeing the results that follow.