Am I good enough? Am I doing enough? What if I screw this up? What if I just can't do this?
These are the questions I have been asking myself a lot lately, and I know that I am not alone in feeling like I just don't have the right answers to anything anymore. The "sophomore slump" that every college student is warned about has, in my case, become the "junior slump," and everything I once thought I knew and everything I thought I wanted for myself has come into question. This is a feeling that I know is shared by many of my classmates and by many college students all over the world, and though I don't have an answer on how to get rid of these feelings and emotions, I do have this to share:
It is times like these when we have to remember why we embarked on this path in the first place. College, after all, isn't just about getting a degree, nor is it only about preparing you for a job. It is about learning who we are, who we went to become, what we want, what we don't want, and learning skills that will come with us no matter what path our lives may lead us down.
No one said college would be easy. College is supposed to be challenging, it is supposed to make you think about things differently -- or about things you never thought about before. We all knew it would be difficult when we checked 'yes' to coming, and, hopefully, we all wanted a bit of a challenge in life. The song doesn't go "when the going gets tough, quit," and quitting is a sad option when you've put time -- and money -- into trying to get an education to better yourself.
If you are frustrated, know that you are not the only one. Almost everyone questions what they are doing in college at least once while they are there, and almost everyone gets frustrated with their major from time to time. It is okay to feel frustrated, confused, and even a little sad every now and again; we all go through it, and, eventually, we all get through it, too.
I'd be lying if I told you I know what the future holds because, the truth is, I have no idea. I don't know if I will or if I want to wind up getting a job doing art. What I do know, though, is that I've been in the game too long to give up now, and that, even if I don't wind up getting a job in art, I will use my degree because the skills and lessons learned will never, ever lose their value.
Don't give up on college or on your dreams -- you will almost definitely regret it, and, if you've made it through even one semester, you've made it too far to quit. You have a lot of people behind you who want you to keep going, so don't stop until the race is completely finished. Trust me -- it's worth the ride.
