Hard work… what does that phrase even mean anyway? In all honesty, it is so subject. Hard wok to one person may mean slaving at work all day to get a paycheck, while for others it may mean getting one assignment done then watching Netflix. Regardless of the reason, what the two have in common is that an accomplishment was made. There was progress. Hard work means putting forth an effort to reach a goal of some sort, whatever that goal may be. Growing up, my parents raised me with the mentality that I have to “fight for what I want.” In other words, nothing will be just given to me. I used this mentality often in my athletic career. If I wanted that starting spot, then I had to work for it. This meant putting in extra effort at practice, working out in the mornings, and finding any opportunity to shoot outside of practice. Now that I’m in college, I’ve realized that this mentality can still apply to me.

In college, it is easy to get caught up in all of the chaos. With a million papers being assigned, tests to study for, events to go to, and meetings to attend, feeling overwhelmed is natural. Your life is so genuinely busy, that it seems like there are never enough hours in the day. It is so easy to look at this situation and just shut down. Stress can affect people in different ways. It can inspire people to see a situation as a challenge to overcome, or it can inspire people to ignore all responsibilities. It’s like an “out of sight out of mind” kind of thing. I personally struggle with being overwhelmed and letting it get the best of me. But here recently, I’ve reminded myself that it’s simply time to fight for what I want. This is a concept we should all apply to our own lives.

We should want to fight to give ourselves the best education possible. School is hard enough as it is, the least we could do is actually put an effort towards getting the best grades we can. If I don’t succeed but tried as hard as I could, then that is okay with me. We should all have this mentality. We should want to fight to make our dreams come true. That may sound cliché, but it’s the truth. We all have dreams for a reason. They represent our truest desires and our largest hopes. If they are tangible goals that have the potential to be reached, then we should all work hard to make that happen.

We should also want to fight to be the best people possible. The world is full of people who are disrespectful, mean, and so many other negative things. Why should we stoop to that level? Shouldn’t we all want to be the best people we can be? By always working hard on our character and the way we treat others, we can in return be the best version of ourselves.

In the end, hard work can get you many things. It’s time that we all fight for what we want. It’s time that we work to be the best people we can be. College is hard and trying and full of stress, but with hard work we can overcome anything.