Fellow Students,

This is for all of you who started your college experience with an idea in mind of your "dream job." You know, veterinarian, lawyer, doctor, nurse, professor, or really anything. You started with that dream — but you experienced a great deal of negativity that was new to you. You no longer had your parents and their friends, your high school teacher, your Sunday school teacher or your soccer coach telling you "you can do it!" or "you'll be a great (insert dream job here)." It became real. You had really hard classes while your roommate was having a blast in her fashion class (not suggesting fashion is easy because it definitely is not everyone's forte). You realized how much this degree would cost versus how much this job is paying nowadays. (Loans are terrifying). Maybe you just had those creeping feelings of "I just can't do this."

Most everyone will experience some form of this — this being that little voice in your head that tells you all the negatives and, most importantly, tells you that you can't do it.

Well, this letter is to all those who didn't listen.

Those of you who are still pushing through those long study hours, working 3 jobs to pay for school, getting tutored for those ridiculously hard classes, and not listening to anyone or anything that tells you that you can't do it. Because you can. If everyone gave up when it got tough, we wouldn't have Einstein, Franklin, MLK Jr., etc. These people and many others pushed through no matter what. If you believe you're meant to be a doctor that is all that matters. GO DO IT. Prove them wrong. If I listened every time someone threw something negative my way about wanting to be a veterinarian, I'd have changed my major a long time ago.

Now to the rest of you, those that have changed your major, this is not to belittle you or make you feel bad at all. Some people have an idea of their dream job, and then they get to college and they realize it wasn't for them all along. Or sometimes life happens and you can't be in school for 10 years. That is OK!!! However, once you find what you are meant to do, DO IT. If it changes 50 times before you find it, that's great, but stick with it. Don't let it go. It may take you longer than others, but it's not a race. What matters is you find where you belong and you work your butt off to get there, no matter what life throws your way.

We are all meant for great things. Now let's go achieve them and prove the world wrong.

Sincerely,

Your Fellow Struggling Student