I think it can be a challenge sometimes to feel significant in our world of excellence and astounding feats of human beings being... well, astounding.

For me, when I was surrounded by excellence and extraordinary people, I would feel self doubt creep in and make me question whether I was actually a unique person (as people have claimed in the past), or whether I could be easily replaced by someone else who was eerily similar to me (like a doppelgänger).

This sometimes disheartening mentality followed me throughout high school and before heading off to Iowa. I went to a high school where it seemed I was constantly surrounded by people doing amazing things, and that self-doubt would creep back in and ask me if I was doing anything incredible like my peers were or if I was as special as I had been told I was or had thought I was myself. Don't get me wrong; I was happy for those who did these incredible things, but I still had to wrestle with my own self-doubt about how I carried myself and how I lived my life.

Something I found that gave me comfort was the idea that I am wholly unique in this life. I found comfort especially in the multiverse theory. The multiverse theory states that for every action you take, there is another universe where that action didn't take place. For instance, if I were to throw a ball across the room, there's another universe where I didn't throw the ball across the room. This allows for an infinite number of possibilities in an infinite number of universes, if the theory holds true.

What that means for me is that in this universe, all the decisions I have made leading up to this moment have led to an entirely unique version of myself. The tonsils out in kindergarten, the game winning RBI in my final year of softball, or my acceptance into the University of Iowa has created this unique version of myself that both I know and that my peers know.

How cool is that?

Some of you may be wondering how this matters, or whether or not this actually helped me in my quest to define myself and succeed in a crowd of already successful people.

I think it has, without a doubt – because the version of myself that is sitting here, writing this, is incredibly unique in the fact that all my decisions and the decisions made around me have created an entirely unique version of me. In another universe, there may be a version of me that was not accepted into the University of Iowa, or another version that isn't on the team to write this article, or even one where writing is one of my passions and the driving force behind who I am as a person.

So, in times of self-doubt in who you are and what you are capable of, remember that you are wholly unique in this universe. There is no other version of you in this universe or any other universe. So embrace what makes you "you" and make the most of the unique opportunities laid before you.

If you found this article meaningful, share it with someone who you think would benefit from it.

Now go out and conquer – I believe in you.