This past fall has been a very trying time. I was busier and more stressed than I ever have been, but I have never been more grateful.

I became incredibly involved in things that I love and was able to enjoy a variety of things. I became great friends with lots of different people and I really made the most of my junior year.

At the same time, I was pushed to my limits mentally. I was enrolled in five, high-level classes as opposed to the standard four. I combined my junior year with the first semester of my senior year so that I could graduate an entire year sooner than anticipated. I pulled countless all-nighters and was tempted to give up again and again.

But I didn't give up. I learned how to be grateful.

I could give in to my stress and give up. Decide to take an extra year and graduate with my friends. Or I could be grateful that I'm given the opportunity to graduate early and apply myself even more.

No one will be disappointed with me or angry if I take four years to earn a Bachelor's degree, but I decided that I could do it in three.

I am grateful for every day that I am alive and every single person that has come and gone in my life. No one's life is perfect. Everyone has hard times and gets stressed out sometimes. But to me, a comfortable life without pushing myself every day doesn't sound appealing.

Every day I am competing against who I was yesterday. I try to improve each day so that I am proud of how far that I've come.

This fall semester tested me time and time again. It taught me a lot about myself and the world and people. I'm focusing on me from here on out and I am ready to go into my last semester focused and ready.

To quote the fabulous Ariana Grande, "she taught me love, she taught me patience, how she handles pain"

The only person you have for your whole life is you, after all.

This fall semester was good, but thank you next.