"Nothing good in life comes without a little hard work."

Would you agree?

As much as I would love to believe this saying, I cannot do so wholeheartedly. My fingers are tingling as I type this - almost as if to ask me, with a disappointed voice, "Are you sure? Do you really mean that?" If you know me, I am a big believer in hard work. It is a word that I want to associate with. But to say nothing comes without hard work, is to attribute your successes to a karma-type system of sorts. You say, "Well I put in the hours, so I should get the merit." Not true. My hilarious and oh-so-wise Chemistry professor taught me this when he handed back the 1st college exams my freshman Chemistry class had ever taken. He told us we either needed to study more, or study more effectively. What he said stuck with me: "You may be one of those people who can put in the hours of work, but your wheels keep spinning. If so, there is hope for you."

You may be able to work hard, and you may be able to learn, but when it comes time to preform, you have got to be able to handle the pressure. Nothing good will happen if when the moment comes to show your hard work, you choke. Most things in life that are worth committing your time and efforts to are going to induce some form of stress. You have to be able to use it to your advantage and improve your performance, rather than destroy it. That is easier said than done, and the latter has definitely happened to me before. My hands have gotten so sweaty and shaky during a piano recital that I messed up the piece I had practiced for months. I have walked into a Calculus exam and forgotten fourth grade math. Someday, sooner or later, something will test you and there will be no mercy. There will be no excuses. Whether it is in the form of taking your first exam or interviewing for medical school or making a life decision, you will have to deal with stress. Use the adrenaline from your nerves to stimulate your performance - a useful strategy I can attribute to my competitive dance days. Realize that your stress can help you if you let it. If you aren't stressing, then perhaps you don't care enough.

We all have to learn to deal with the stress someday. Don't let it destroy your hard work. Nothing great comes without hard work and good performance.