As most of you know, I pride myself on my academics and find joy in being known as the “smart kid.” However, I also put a lot of pressure on myself to keep up the “smart kid” label and get down on myself when I feel like I’m not upholding the standard I’ve set for myself academically. Part of those standards involves sticking to my plan that I’ve had since I was in high school. Enter college with an AA, graduate with my Bachelors and Masters by the time I’m finished with softball, and play softball while doing all of that. Of course, those plans have already changed a little bit, but I’ve still ended up at the spot that I had planned out beforehand. The timeline right now is to walk with my senior teammates in the spring, and officially graduate with my Masters in the summer. With that being said, I have been a full-time graduate student for a short few months, and am surrounded by other grad kids that have been pursuing this degree for a year or more. My thesis advisor has caught me comparing my progress to those of the students around me, and we recently had a big talk about it. He informed me that even though I haven’t been working on my thesis as long as other students, I am still at the same point they are. We actually talked about defending my thesis proposal in November, to which my eyes got big in disbelief since I didn’t realize how far along I actually was.
There are a couple of things to take from this experience. One; don’t compare your progress to those around you because everyone is on a different journey, with a different timeline. Two; don’t doubt yourself in your journey. I had no idea I was so close to presenting and defending my initial proposal, yet here I am. Trust your work ethic and believe in yourself. Even if it’s not apparent, there are people around you that believe in your efforts and see the work you put in. Remember that you’re not behind in your journey, you are continuously working through events in your life and God has your back through everything. Have a great weekend!