Student recognizes collegiate dreams as worthy of stress

It is officially Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) season and for a lot of students that means finding the motivation to continue the seemingly pointless day-to-day onslaught of school work. But as someone who has a lot of experience in this department, being a former dropout myself, I am here to tell you that it is all worth it.

College is a lot, do not get me wrong. And since many of us experience SAD to varying degrees, it is likely that many students will consider leaving college and just giving up. But do not do it. College is expensive, difficult and sometimes seems like it is the cause of every single one problem going on. But throwing in the towel is not the solution. There really is a point to all of this nonsense students have to go through.

After I dropped out last year, I felt great. For about a month. But then all of the problems I thought I had left behind caught up to me. I thought I would be happier, and I was, for a short while. I got to spend more time with my friends and the people I cared about. I was free. But freedom always has a cost. I had given up on my dreams.

I decided that the future I always saw for myself did not matter. I decided that being free was worth my dreams. And it is definitely not.

College takes a lot of students freedom. But only for a little while. Life is so long and trust me when I say a few years of struggling is worth it to achieve dreams. Every student enrolled came to college for a reason.  Students all have something they aspire to be. Something they want to do. And this is their way of being able to do that. It is not just a degree. It is more than thousands in debt.

It is about who students are able to become by receiving an education. It is worth the crying over a bad grade on a test. It is worth a panic attack over all of the readings due in five minutes. It makes students stronger and everyone grows into amazing individuals, driving society forward.

All college students have to do is keep pushing. Keep reading the book that seems useless. Keep doing flashcards for the things not on the test. Learn. Grow. Keep pushing. Because giving up is not an option. If one truly has a dream, anything is worth achieving it.