Life is a constant battle, filled with so many mixed feelings. One moment you’re on top of the world and the next you feel like someone just kicked you in the chest and knocked you to the ground. Some days I feel like I’m a hamster running on a wheel with no progress made. Often I question my purpose. Am I supposed to be struggling through school, sometimes barely getting by, or was I intended to take another path? For some reason, though, I still continue to show up every morning at 8 a.m. ready and willing to learn. As I sit and think about why I do this, one word keeps entering my mind. Passion.

Coming into TLU as a freshman, I did not understand the idea of a “liberal arts education.” But as time has progressed I am very grateful for the doors that it has opened and the passion that has been freed because of the experiences that I have had here at TLU. My university has taught the power of passion and how much it can motivate you to push forward even when life gets tough.

Personally, I have had the privilege of finding passion in many aspects of my TLU life, the first being soccer. I entered the university excited to continue my career as a soccer player and soon learned that it meant more to me than the score at the end of a game. I learned the importance of team and the value of being a part of something bigger than myself. With soccer I was able to unwrap the importance of passion and from there I set out to work to find my place in the university.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to learn more about myself and the things that I am most passionate about. I have learned what career path that I want to take because I am striving to follow my passion. TLU has shown me that I care deeply about impacting the youth in my community and helping them to see the beauty of the sciences. On a monthly basis I get to do different outreach events and show young students why it is so cool to be nerdy. This is what keeps me going: knowing that regardless of the grade I make on a test or how crappy my day is going, at the end of the day it is not about me, it is about the kids that I am giving up on if I give up on myself. When I finish my undergraduate and graduate degree I want to be a professor, but not that big school research professor that only teaches one class a semester. No, I want to be like the people that wake up every day and teach me, care about me, and motivate me to be better. One day I want to be that professor that instills passion in my students.

So you see, passion is a powerful thing. It forces you to be more than you are and risk it all without guarantee of any reward. But I think it is all worth it and I hope that in these years, when you are struggling through college and attempting to “find yourself,” you do a little soul searching and find your passion. Once you do, don’t be afraid to follow it on whatever journey it leads you on. You may be lucky enough to find your future within it.