Little kids tend to love school. They go into kindergarten excited for the day ahead of them. They're ready to make crafts and see their friends, but most importantly they are ready to learn. Why is it that when we grow up we learn to hate school?

I've always been the kind of person that loved learning. I would take the time to do my assignments properly so I actually got something out of them. I would study for my tests and try my hardest to actually retain the information and not just memorize it to make a good grade.

So why am I going into my sophomore year of college dreading my classes? I was always a good student. I did well in my classes and teachers usually liked me. However, my grades dropped significantly my second semester this past year. I was taking really hard classes in my major and I was struggling. Growing up, I was conditioned to do my classwork on my own, not ask questions due to the fear of others thinking I was dumb, and not asking for help. When I got my grades back for the semester, I was anything but encouraged. I was convinced that I wasn't cut out to be a biochemistry major, let alone good enough to go to medical school and become a doctor. I was questioning every choice I had made up to that point.

This summer I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I truly want out of my education. I want to be a doctor more than anything. I love my major and I couldn't think of being more interested in anything else. All of this considered, I was still facing the problem of unsatisfactory grades. I came to realize that these grades weren't a sign of my failure as a person or as a student, but that I just didn't know the information in the class well enough.

Just because you fail a class or don't get the best grades doesn't mean you need to rearrange your life completely and forget the goals you have had for years. I am taking this past semester as a sing to pour myself into my studies even more and learn to love learning again. I saw studying as a chore and taking exams as a punishment, when I should be grateful for the opportunities that I have been given. Yes, this isn't a realistic mindset 100% of the time, especially when I am studying in the basement of the library at 2 a.m., but it will help my overall feelings about my education.

My fall semester resolution is to remember why I chose my major and my career path and learn to love what I am doing all over again, even when it gets hard. I am capable and I am motivated. I am ready to tackle this upcoming semester.