Of course, I am grateful for my family and my friends, as well as my life and my health; these are all things I could never take for granted, as they all can be painfully temporary. Being able to attend a university that I have grown to love is also something I cherish — especially since I certainly did not start out my college experience head over heels in love with my university of choice. But beyond these basic or even obvious objects of my gratitude, there are other things that I hold dear now that I never could have dreamed possible.
Over the past three and a half years of my college experience, I have felt every emotion a person could possibly feel: from the immense heartbreak I felt when I left my family on move-in day, to the dejection and hopelessness I experienced in the midst of my roommate conflict, to the elation I felt my junior year when everything felt as though it were finally falling into place, to the sense of hunger I now feel in anticipation for my future, it's safe to say I have pretty much been through it all. I have felt defeated, determined, then validated; despondent, resolute, then confident. So if it took going through everything I've been through to become a confident, strong person who not only believes in her abilities but also believes in her own worth and her own voice, then I am grateful for — even indebted to — these experiences.
To be able to reflect upon all that I've been through, to recognize how it's shaped me and changed me, to know that I've come out of it for the better — that is truly something to be thankful for.
When I was in high school, I had a teacher that said, "Make sure your experiences don't leave you bitter; instead, make sure they make you better." Back then, I'm sure I only mildly understood what she meant. After experiencing all that I did, I finally feel that I have a better understanding of what she actually meant:
Your circumstances have the power to change you. Don't let them capture you and consume you. Don't grow resentful of the curveballs that you will surely be thrown. Instead, greet each challenge with an elastic heart, ready to see how they will enhance you, change you, polish you and make you shine.
Yes, I am grateful for these experiences, for my crazy, weird, wonderful, rollercoaster of a life. But I am also grateful for you — the readers. While I haven't exactly been the best at keeping it up to date, knowing that someone, somewhere is reading it and (hopefully) finding it helpful means the world to me. So thank you for sticking with me on this journey.
Until next time,
That [Grateful] University Girl
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