Congratulations, graduates! You did it - every single last one of you, from the over achievers to the slackers, from the straight A students to the barely passing. You all have so much to celebrate. The long, sleepless nights have come to an end. So, now what do you do?
The smart kids are off to grad school and the ones who are "so done" with school are off starting jobs, but what about the group of students who struggled to do their very best and ended up smack dab in the middle...labeled "average"? The average ones are the ones who spent days upon days receiving letters stating, "We have carefully reviewed your application and regret to inform you that you have not been accepted to our program". They are the ones who are stuck in the middle feeling like they just may not be good enough or smart enough to get into their dream graduate school or get their dream job. But, guess what? Lucky for you, you have this great thing called life ahead of you.
My whole life, I was always labeled average. I did average on tests and in my classes. I was average at sports. I had an average height and build. I really started to dislike the word average. I would get frustrated and always think I would never be able to reach the goals in my life that would for once make me above average! What I did not realize was how much the way I thought affected my average-ness. What or should I say who was keeping me from being average? Well, no one but myself. I made excuses for being average because it made me feel better and that did not change for me until my senior year in college. I was graduating and had no idea where my life was going to take me next.
I spent my senior year working harder than I ever had just to make up for where average had got me during my first three years of college, and for the first time in a long time, I was not just average anymore. Later that year, I got my fair share of rejection letters from programs I thought I really wanted to go to and I felt myself feeling average again. Nay, I felt less than average. So, I took a long hard look at my life and really thought about my goals and what I wanted in my life. I did not want anyone else's opinion about what I should do or where I should take my life. I just wanted to find an honest reason within my self to keep going in order to find my next move and start the next chapter in my life. Well, it took months, but I did find a reason, and that was because average should make me good enough.
Being average is what pushed me to work harder than I ever had in my life. Being average is what found me the motivation to re-evaluate my life and goals and discover my passion for my career. Being average is what landed me right where I am today and I have never been happier because after all, being average has made me see that I, too can be extraordinary. So, who cares if you're just "average?" That should never stop you from doing what you want to do and becoming who you see yourself becoming. Who knows what life has in store for you or where you might find yourself? Life rarely ever works out the way we planned, but however it plans out, where ever you end up, you will look back and think being average isn't so bad after all.
