There are some things in life, no one can prepare us for, but why should they? What I am suggesting here is that we are not meant to be prepared for what life will throw our way. Instead, we are meant to embrace both the good and the bad and fully experience the beautiful chaos that is life.

As a second year college student, I have realized that life may not always be enjoyable. While we can assume there is always someone out there worse off than ourselves, each of us is faced with trials and tribulations on a regular basis. Looking at the greater picture, our struggles may reveal themselves to be rather trivial, but we struggle nonetheless. College students are under constant pressure. We think that the next four years, or however long we receive formal education, will decide the rest of our lives. To some extent, this is true. Our experiences and performances now will shape our lives, but failure or unexpected changes do not signal an end to our world. In fact, I believe it is from our failures and the sudden and unexpected changes in our lives that we truly experience life. I am sure everyone could produce at least one instance of their own personal hardships, but I will provide a short summary of one of my own to illustrate my idea.

One month ago, I was a second year student enrolled in Misericordia University's accelerated Physician Assistant program. My life and the lives of my fellow undergraduates were thrown into disarray when we learned our program had lost accreditation. Most of us were caught completely off-guard. Some of us had no trouble picking up the pieces and finding their life path again. Others spent weeks unsure of where their next step would lead them. Myself, I spent the better part of three weeks preparing to transfer. I did not want to, but financially I thought I had no choice. Three days ago, I was accepted and ready to transfer to another school where I could continue my PA studies. I had everything planned, but everything changed yet again when I received a text late at night. The next day, after running from one meeting to the next and anxiously printing, filling out, and discussing piles of paperwork, I happily decided to stay here at Misericordia as a nursing student, aspiring to become a nurse practitioner.

Looking back on my time of uncertainty and stress, I realized we should be truly grateful for being presented adversity in the first place. The relative triviality of my hardship aside, I know I have grown from the experience. Likewise, all adversities, whether already overcome or currently be confronted, result in our own personal growth. It is from our experiences, both those we consider successful and those we consider failures, that our character develops and our life derives meaning. We should equally pursue tragedy, pleasure, crisis, security, uncertainty, and all the things that will contribute to our personal growth. Sure, some experiences may leave a bitter taste or cause us considerable pain, but to avoid such experiences is to avoid living and experiencing life to the fullest.

As a still inexperienced, ignorant-of-the-world college student, I know I cannot hope to tell others how to live, but I think it is of vital importance that we all take a step back and appreciate the things that are going on around us. Our lives are being affected by every experience we incur, and while we may wish to avoid the hardships of life, it is from those hardships we are able to grow. So this holiday season, and anytime we are faced with adversity really, we should take a moment to appreciate the person we are becoming. A person defined by the experiences, good and bad, acquired on our journey through life.