Thanksgiving is near, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the things I’m thankful for. Of course, friends and family are the first things that come to mind. A roof over my head, a great church, a good job and of course my cats.
However, it’s often easier for me to think of what I’m not so thankful for, like when I have to wake up for my 8:00 class every Monday morning. It’s easy for me to complain about waking up early, all the homework I have to do, the studying, the stress of exams and how intensely overwhelming nursing school is in general. Then, a couple weeks ago I saw an old post pop-up on my Facebook timeline. It was a picture of my letter of acceptance to the Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing. I saw that picture and was instantly reminded how excited and thankful I was to be accepted into the program. I realized how easy it was to fall into the trap of going through the motions and so quickly forgetting how blessed I am.
"I am thankful to be continuing my education, where women before me, and even women now in parts of the world long to go to school, but are not allowed to do so."
I think every college student has fallen into this trap. We all do it. We complain about papers, and sitting in the library for what seems like an eternity, and our grades not being updated in the computer fast enough. Our conversations consist of us discussing how tired we are from studying, how annoyed we are with our professors for giving us exams and assigning papers the week before Thanksgiving break, how done we are with school. We just want to go home, but of course once we go home, we complain about how our families are driving us crazy and we can’t wait to go back to school. It almost comes more naturally than being thankful for those things.
As Thanksgiving break approaches, I realized I was thankful for Samford, and more specifically that 8:00 a.m. class. I came to the conclusion that 90% of the things I complain about are actually things I should be giving thanks for. School is a privilege, not a burden, and I think we should really start realizing that. I am thankful to be continuing my education, where women before me, and even women now in parts of the world long to go to school, but are not allowed to do so. I am blessed to even have the financial ability to attend college, especially a school that costs $40,000 a year. I’m thankful for the hours I spend doing homework and studying, because it’s helping me reach my dream of being a nurse. I chose to come to Samford, and go to college, and the fact that I even had a choice to make is something to be thankful for in itself. I am thankful for that 8:00 a.m. class, and all my classes and the work that comes with them, because my education is a privilege.
