At a Wednesday night church service, I was struck in the heart by a powerful sermon. The pastor was preaching on the importance of being active in one’s life, and that simply praying for what you hope to happen in your life is not enough. This message is powerful to me, not just on religious terms but in everyday life. It is so important to grasp the concept of chasing after your dreams. Hoping things will happen without working towards them is simply not enough.

I find that so many college students these days live by the “skating by” and “C’s get degrees” mantras. Rarely do I hear my peers talking about how anything less than an A is not acceptable. This doesn’t just reflect a poor attitude towards schoolwork but a lazy character as well. It is so easy to fall into a rut in college of going to class, scrolling social media during said class, choosing to not take notes because the teacher is going to “put the power point online” and then forgetting to ever look at the power point until hours before the test. After classes, we all go back to our rooms, chat with our friends and find something to pass the time. It’s time to stop the monotony! It is time to stand up as a student and say I will achieve my dreams!

So many students get to college and forget their dreams or lay them to the side because they are seen as impractical. You come into college with the dream of being a neurosurgeon, but get to college and decide nursing school is more practical. It’s easier. You have a lesser chance of failing at nursing than you do at neurosurgery. I would rather chase my dream and fail a few times than I would die never trying. If you want something in this life, go and get it! Don’t just skate by because you don’t think you can do it. Who told you that you couldn’t? 9 times out of 10 you are the one telling yourself you can’t achieve your dreams. And who cares what the people around you think? Your dreams are solely yours and you must work to achieve them. The naysayers around you are giving you a hard time simply because they don’t think they are strong enough to reach their goals so they don’t want to see you do it either. No matter how hard the climb to your goal is, just remember that the view from the top is spectacular. The best goals in life seem to always be the hardest, and it is the strongest of people who stand up for those dreams and set out to accomplish them. You are strong. You can do this. You know your dreams, and I know that you are capable of accomplishing anything.    

After all passive people do not get promises, but it is the active ones who go out and take the promise of a better tomorrow.