Leading up to the last weeks of the semester, every college student starts to feel the pressure of making deadlines, writing essays and taking final exams. Within all that craziness, we sort of forget to breathe and take time for ourselves. Many of us work two jobs on top of being a student and it can really tire us out, both physically and mentally.
I like to think of myself as someone who is mentally strong, but there comes a breaking point for all of us. Learning to accept that it is OK to talk about your feelings can be difficult for a lot of us. I worry too much about what other people think of me and it gets in the way of my own success. Learning to be your own cheerleader is a long journey, and it all starts with you.
I have many friends who post on Facebook about learning to love themselves. I never fully understood it until I went through something where I had to choose between myself or to continue to strain my mental health.
Throughout the process of getting hired for my second job, I never doubted that I would be able to handle work, school and my personal life. I was already doing it with one job, why not two? But as months went by, I realized that it was taking up so much of my energy and time. I contemplated quitting for about two months before I actually decided to take the first step. It took me longer than I wanted since I was looking at it from an experience/looking-good-on-your-resume point of view. Yet, I did decide to quit when I realized that loving yourself took sacrifice.
I am really big on having a career you enjoy and thought my second job was going to open doors for me. Instead, it made me learn more about myself. I have slowly but surely, learned how to be patient with myself and the decisions I make. More often than not, I like to rush things, worry too much about what is next and overthink way too much.
Being a student is already a full-time job, and I would rather make sacrifices right now that will soon lead to what my true calling is.
