It's finals this week, ladies. We've been procrastinating all week, trying to forget about our studies by drowning ourselves in turkey and gravy, but finals week has arrived, and we can't stop it. It's time for those few days of learning a semester's worth of material in one night. It's time to max out our Tea Room accounts with coffee and late-night chicken fingers. It's time to break out those messy buns and sweat pants, because ain't nobody going to be looking good this week if they can help it. It's the most wonderful time of the year!

In all seriousness, I feel like this is a week that tramples on our self-esteem a little. Growing up, my parents noticed I was better at school than my brother, so I automatically became the "smart child." They expected me to get the good grades. I won't lie, I do pretty well in school, but there's always that bar that I can't reach. I've never been the smartest, like my parents think I am (or could be). Don't get me wrong, my parents are amazing and supportive, but A's are a must for them. Sometimes focusing so much on that one letter, that one test grade, that one class you should've gone to, can make you crazy. It's easy to get so caught up in school and grades that you convince yourself that your life will be ruined if you get any less than a certain grade.

I don't know about others, but I broke down a few times last year just about grades. And I'm not talking about a little breakdown. I mean I broke down. I couldn't focus on anything else; not even swimming. All that mattered was that I if I didn't get a certain grade, I would be a failure, and I'd fully convinced myself of that.

I remember crying on the phone to my mother about how I just wasn't smart enough to do as well as she thought I could. "I'm just not good enough!" I insisted. This conversation was the first time she said this to me:

"You are most certainly good enough. We love you no matter what, and we know how hard you are working. We know you are doing your best, and that's all that matters."

It's a pretty generic thing for a mother to say to her kid freaking out about grades. For some reason, though, it comforted me. I didn't feel like my life would be ruined if I got a grade other than what I wanted, because no matter what happened, I had the love of my parents, and life would go on.

I wanted to write this because I don't want my fellow students to feel like I did last year. I felt like my worth was based on how well I did at school and swimming. I had truly convinced myself that I would be less of a person if I didn't have the best grades or the fastest times. I think this can go the same way for lots of things, like being the prettiest or the funniest or the most athletic. We stress about not being the best at one of those things, but we forget that we're all great at something. I'm not the best at swimming, and I'm not the smartest person at school, but it doesn't matter, because I know there are things I can do that not everyone else can do. And everyone has certain things about them that are unique and special, and that's amazing. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses, and none of those makes us less than someone else. It makes us diverse, and it's how we were meant to be.

So going into finals week, just remember that whatever grade you get isn't an indicator of your worth as a person. Don't get down about a bad grade if you get one. You win some and lose some! As long as you know you gave it what you had and tried your best, nothing else matters. You're an awesome person, and a number can't tell you otherwise.

Of course, we'll all knock these finals out of the park. We are Brenau women, after all.