Ever since I started school, I have been dedicated to my education. This includes all of my years spent in elementary, middle, and high school. I have always been the person who wants to keep learning and keep growing. I always wanted to push myself to be better than I was the day before. Naturally, this push to better myself started within the realm of education.

Gradually, education became more than a routine to me. It was a place to learn, to grow, and to connect with others in the world around us. I found a passion in my growth, and that was to never settle for less than my best. As I got older and entered into high school, this passion often got mistaken. I was never quite bullied, but some people would jokingly say "You're such a nerd," "You're an overachiever," "You're such a teacher's pet."

I never let those words hurt me, but rather I felt bad for those students. They didn't understand or value education to the extent I did, and even students in college don't understand. A lot of times on campus I hear students say "I'm just here to pass, get my degree, and get a good job."

When students say such things, I wonder why they put the time and money in. Don't get me wrong, I am at a point in my college career where it can become overwhelming, and I just want to graduate already, but I don't let it actually interfere with my education. Education- specifically college- is a time to learn and to prepare yourself for a career and long life.

College is the time where you should be learning in depth about a career and meeting new people. If your mindset is to just pass, you won't retain any useful knowledge, and although you might get a job you want, you won't be capable of doing as good of a job as one who truly appreciated their education.

You can't learn everything, but you can't disregard it either. It is difficult to retain information when it seems like professors have you down information just to throw it up on an exam, but with personal drive you can become a better person and truly learn. It takes extra effort to learn, but a lot of people anymore are too lazy to put the time in. Well you know what? The ones who put the time in now, might just be your boss one day. They are the ones who know what they want out of life and go for it. They get ahead as much as possible.

People will still see me as an "overachiever," "a nerd," and "a teacher's pet," but others see me as a "hard worker," "educated woman," and "a person who has a lot of connections." I know that all of these years of my hard work have, and will pay off. I've learned to get ahead in my life and not let other's deter me.

There are days you aren't going to want to learn or deal with schoolwork, but you can't let that get in the way of your learning. You shouldn't have the mindset that you are here "just to pass." You want your education to be a personal asset that reflects positively on you. Just remember that it's never too late to change your outlook on your education, and to truly take advantage of it.