I know, I know – Hang in there!

I know, I know – yes, I really do know. Life is not easy, and if you haven’t noticed, it seems to get even more difficult as we grow older. This is especially true with everything going on in our lives right now – whether it’s related to school, job, family and or personal life, or whatever it may be that’s causing us anxiety and stress. Now, especially for us seniors, adding on to our already full plate, the college and, in general, future stress isn’t helping to ease our situation. But, one thing is for sure: Many of us, including myself, are going through this process too. I understand you and I feel for you.

Often times, maybe even almost all the time, all we do is complain about our situation. It’s okay to do that, it really is. Sometimes, we just need to vent for the sake of getting it out of our systems. But, other times, we just need to take a big deep breath and relax and give ourselves a pep talk. Well, in this case, I’ll be giving you one – and to myself as well.

Let’s start off with me describing an ocean to you. It’s vast, deep, calming yet chaotic, mysterious, and filled with wonders. I just gave you a little insight on how I personally feel about the future. The ocean, in a metaphorical way, symbolizes the future and my perspective on it is how I view it. In all honesty, it’s scary. There’s no doubt about that. We can’t help but feel anxious, confused, frustrated, and even hopeless at times when we don’t what the future has instore for us. But, at the very same time it’s exciting and intriguing. It allows us to think and reflect on everything – yes, literally everything. It holds so many valuable lessons to be learned and so many opportunities to experience. Yet, we don’t know what exactly those may be. To get to the point, I feel both anxious and excited about the future.

Moving from another country, from city to country, and to another family and community, I’m somewhat going through that college “I’m no longer at home” experience. Trust me when I tell you that I’ve learned and grown a lot on this journey.

I know it sounds cliché but you really do get many opportunities to learn and grow through this process. Trust me, the future and all that it holds will reveal itself to you, probably slowly but surely. But, do you know what I believe? I believe that you, and I, and all of us who are going this process will be okay. Not only that, I also believe we’re strong and capable. I believe that we can get through this. As cheesy as it sounds, we’re all unique in our own ways – unique in our own strengths and quirks and all of that jazz. Oh, and not to forget that we’re also important to not only the people around us but everyone in the world. We may not realize that we change people’s lives more than we think we do – sometimes it happens in ways we don’t even know about. So, please, stay strong. I believe in you. You can do this. We need you.

Last but not least, it really is okay to ask for help. The guidance staff at Knoch High School, Dr. Gurrera, Ms. Allison, and Ms. Stein, are always willing and ready to help whenever we need it. Even our teachers are here to help us. We’re not alone. I mean, just take a look around the walls near the guidance office. They’ve put up college visit posters with the dates, times, and locations. They’ve also put up the Common App poster, which tells you whether the college you want to go to offers that application process option. They’ve come around to all the senior classes to guide us on how to approach this situation. Online resources like Naviance and the Common App can be your best friend when applying to colleges. Khan Academy, another online resource, can also be your best friend when preparing for the SATs and or ACTs coming up. What I’m trying to say is that all the information is literally at our fingertips. So, take advantage of it. It’s there to help us.

For those of you who are not planning to go down the direction of college for you future, I’m here to tell you: You’ll be okay. Just like many others, we’ll all go through different seasons in our lives. For you, it just so happens to be this new direction you’ll be taking once we graduate. I’m sure it’ll be a great journey. You just need to know, and if you already know then you need to be reminded, that this decision doesn’t make you any less strong and capable. I’m proud of you because it isn’t easy making a choice like this.

Okay, I promise – this is the last thing and I’ll be done. The one thing I really hope you take away from this is: Pursue and chase after your dreams. Trust me, you’ll be much more grateful and willing to do something that makes you motivated and inspired. Basically, just do something that’ll get you out of bed to do it. Well, that’s all I have for the pep talk. Good luck to you and I’m cheering for you. Hang in there!