We grow and learn a lot in a year. My junior year was no exception. Of course, I learned Psychology and History, but I also learned something far more important. Some may characterize it as a life lesson or maybe just an insight. Regardless of what you may want to call it, it's something I feel is an important lesson for students in high school and beyond.

So here it is: everything happens for a reason, so there is no reason to stress over what you have no control over because at the end of the day the only thing you can do is try your hardest.

Now it may seem very simple and straightforward or even obvious, but it is a lot harder to apply at the moment. That moment you hear someone complaining about how their 1550 SAT score is too low or complaining about not taking as many APs as the person next to you. I admit that it can be hard trying to keep up with your peers, especially in a highly competitive school. Whenever I heard such comments, I could not help but think that what I was doing was not good enough. And I wasn't alone. In talking to other people, many of them had the same reaction. They were no less smart and worked just as hard as the kids who made themselves look better than all the rest.

I had to teach myself to block out all the negativity that came from the competitive environment around me. Anytime I would feel stressed out, I would tell myself that it's all out of my control. I tried to focus on the one thing I could control- my effort and my work. There was no point in stressing about what others were saying because it only takes away the time you could be working on yourself. And yes, I know; it is a near impossible task to not stress in high school, but trying to minimize it can make loads of a difference.

When you make an effort toward not letting certain things out of your control bother you, you'll find that you have so much more time to work on yourself and the things that actually need to get done. Going into senior year, I know I will have to constantly remind myself of this, remembering that I have no control over what anyone else does, so there is no point worrying about it. I need to remember that working hard is the key to success, but nothing says it better than this quote:

"I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." - Thomas Jefferson

The thing to remember about hard work is that the results may not immediate. It may take a while for your hard work to pay off, whether its in college or in the workplace. Hard work can take you to many places and it will help you succeed when you get there too.