Dear Tired College Student,

Right now, I know that things probably aren’t fitting into a perfect square box like you thought they would once you moved out of the house for college. I bet you had high hopes for finding yourself by now and you thought that college would make you feel bigger, happier, and surer of yourself. If you’re like me right now, none of this has happened. Like none. I’m pretty unsure of who I am and who I want to be. My heart is wrenched with due dates, perfectionism, and homework. So much so that I have truly forgotten many important things about myself. If you’re feeling the same way right now, then I pray that you will find peace.

In the midst of these years, there will be times when you are angry, confused, and downright fed up with the college thing. You will stumble over your own self-doubt time and time again, and perfectionism will disguise itself as your goals, dreams, and wishes, but I pray that you are always given the discernment to know that achieving your goals and dreams is not an easy task, rather it is a task that will come with roadblocks, mishaps, challenges, andbad days. You should welcome them because getting to know them is only part of defeating them. They will make your story worth being told.

I pray that the pressure to be perfect during your time in college never outweighs the beauty that is to come from being unapologetically you because that, friend, is what you need to be -- you. Your time here is to be messy, scary, and full of new adventures, and I pray that all of that never leads you to believe that you are incapable of being the best version of your raw, rough-edged self.

I pray that you will never lose sight of the people, places, and moments that have gotten you to where you are right now. It is in these things that we will find some way to ground ourselves, to hold onto all of the different pieces of ourselves while we figure out how exactly we want to piece them together with the new. I know that everything feels messy and scattered right now, but find some kind of home for yourself and don’t lose sight of it. I pray that you never do.

I pray that you find peace with your tiredness – it will be around for quite some time. I pray that even on the days when you can’t find balance with yourself and your lack of sleep that you know that you are going to do really amazing things.

And when you are so tired because you studied so hard for that test, but you still make a bad grade, I pray that you know that your worth is so much more than a letter grade in one class.

I pray that God gives you the grace and mercy you need to learn to forgive yourself for forgetting that you are so much more than a GPA. You are a son or daughter of The King and that is a perfect score that you will never find on any test of your college career.

Amen.