I couldn't even tell you where I was on campus when the happiness struck in the midst of my cramming for Political Science this past week.
I found a random bench on a random little field in the middle of somewhere near the Stadium and Tate, I propped open my laptop and couldn't help but smile.
The beautiful fall leaves soaring onto the chilly pavement in perfectly timed increments so it's not too cool or too sunny at any given time.
Why is my head buried in my computer screen when it's such a pretty day outside?
We have one more full week left of the semester and at UGA, and that means mega stress.
Everywhere stressed students join together in the main library, MLC, classrooms, Tate, and any and every coffee shop in Athens to cram knowledge into their brains only to forget it a few days later.
No sleep, no time to eat, no room for error, no relaxing exhales. This is what college finals week looks like this time of year, but where is our happiness?
The happiness of taking one final test in multiple classes that determines your grade for the entire semester, which makes or breaks your grade point average, the determining factor in your success in life?
Yes. The happiness. The joy. The thankfulness. The love for our lives that is so trapped behind our computers and notes, it’s practically nonexistent this week.
I’m not saying that you need to be happy about having to study or having to take tests, or happy that that tornado did not hinder your ability to take exams next week. I’m saying that amongst all of that stress and inner frustrations, don’t forget who you are without the grades.
You attend one of the best colleges in the South because you worked your butt off for the first 18 years of your life and earned this spot.
You’re in your classes this semester because a wise academic advisor at UGA knows it will better prepare you later in life.
You’re in your major because you have a passion for greatness in that specific community that welcomes you with open arms on this campus.
You have the friends you do because you are so intimately loved that those people couldn’t imagine life without you by their side.
You are where you need to be right now for a reason, and that should be so heartwarming you can’t help but be happy today.
Forget the grades, the GPA, the future, the anxiety – your best is good enough to the One who created you, no matter what you or anyone else thinks.
Your value is not glued to your resume or even on your report cards for this semester.
You are far too precious to simply label with a number, and this notion should calm all waves you’re feeling this week or this month.
Matthew 6:25-34 says,
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
It’s so easy to forget our worth when numbers and achievements are all the focus in college. All of the pressure to be perfect is only heightened during finals week, and the lack of sleep really doesn’t help the repeated emotional breakdowns.
Whether you believe in God, another higher power, or nothing, there should be no argument that everyone's own value should never be placed in varying, insignificant aspects of this life on Earth (such as grades).
Life will go on whether you ace or fail those finals, and you are no less intelligent, inspiring, innovative, or unique.
Don’t give up and keep on doing your best, but do not let the pressure of college fill your heart with lies – you can do this. You are good enough.
