I am extremely hard on myself, which can work to my benefit as well as my detriment.

During my senior year of college, I have learned the importance of not only self-love/care but of being kind to myself.

I have always been an extremely hard worker and will take on as much as I physically can, which is not always the best strategy. I’ve really learned to stress quality over quantity, but I still find myself spread thin at times.

I always give my best and try my hardest, which are things I constantly try to remind myself of. If you try your hardest and you get a B on a paper instead of the A you wanted, be proud of yourself instead of stressing out about it or beating yourself up.

Focus on your strengths and don’t let your weaknesses drag you down. The older you get, the more you realize that you can do the things you are good at and avoid those that you aren’t, so in the long run, it doesn’t really matter how well you did on a statistics test.

I will always remember driving myself crazy over geology freshmen year. I worked so hard to do well in my two geology classes, but it just wasn’t something that my brain was wired for.

Luckily I am a communications major, who hopes to go into writing/content creation, so I seriously doubt my future employers care about my knowledge of sediments or ability to identify various rocks.

My advice is to try your hardest and be happy with your best. This is not something that comes naturally to me, but focusing on my strengths and being kinder to myself has drastically improved my life and I hope others will do the same.