To those who say, “tomorrow will be different”,
It seems like a similar story—a normal week, whether at school, or at work. One has a dream in their mind, but don’t take the steps to come true. Let me tell you mine.
Every day, I wake up, go to class, eat my meals and do a bunch of assorted things, then go to sleep. Considering I get around seven hours of sleep every night, I have seventeen hours to spare to do other things. Most of them are in class, but I also go to clubs, do homework, and procrastinate.
The latter has been a big part of my life, and I haven’t fully recognized that. It was something which a lot of people try to find the causes of and advised everybody from middle schoolers to even adults with paid jobs. While I’ve had a bit of struggle from the beginning of those days, it seems like something which threatens to usurp my life.
Not to say I’m the only one discussing this—in fact, I’ve heard of weekend stories which featured fun on Saturday, and work on Sunday. Minutes of doing homework turn into surfing the web and watching Netflix. And divides on between getting the best grade possible and just scraping by to simply pass and graduate.
For me, I want to be the former: to get onto the Dean’s List consistently, so I could get into the best programs, the best scholarships, and get enough credentials to get a decent career start. I write stuff into my planner, I wake up expecting a new me tomorrow, and emulate the people I see in television or the friends who go off and chase their ambitions.
It usually doesn’t work out; when it does, it’s nice until I hit a wrench, and then my plans collapse again and I go back to my old habits. Yet it is also so insidious: it feels good, then hours and days and weeks go by, and then I’m shocked about the lost opportunities.
Recently, I tried setting myself goals for a month, but don’t find myself following them. I think of doing so again, but I don’t take the time to seriously think.
Amid the world and its diverse directions one can get pulled into, I get distracted, and I assume you do too?
In that case, it would be a good time to turn off the music and the videos and keep a journal, even for a simple moment in time. Think about not only what goes on your day, but also what you want to achieve. Clichéd, but true in many peoples’ circumstances.
Second, I wouldn’t be afraid to start over. It may not be the beginning of a new school year, a new school term, or even a new administration…but life doesn’t wait for anybody or any circumstance. I notice how people transition from one status in life to another; I think by the time I meet my high school friends after graduating college, we would have almost nothing common. So, start today, and take serious initiative into making every tomorrow better.
And don’t be afraid to ask for help. Or find people to go on this journey with.
Good luck,
A student struggling on that same road.
