Why can't she hold her pencil correctly? Will she ever have the ability to write? Her math skills are not quite there yet. These are the constant words I heard from teachers and administrators growing up. In the school system, I was being raised to doubt myself and to feel as if my abilities and talents were inadequate. The more I grew up, the more I understood that these types of people are wrong. The ones who say never and the ones who told me I could not do it were wrong. Was I a child who needed additional help learning how to hold her pencil and memorizing times tables? Am I now a Biochemistry major who writes for the Odyssey and wants to pursue a math minor? Yes and yes.

To the people who do not believe you are not smart or good enough, you must be doing something right. People will not want to see you shine, but I can tell you right now that you are a star. If anybody should believe in you, that person needs to be you. I know constant words that were said to me in grade school still haunt me but only if I let them. Looking ahead and focusing on my present and all the blessings that I have is truly an amazing feeling. Even though it may not feel like it in the moment, the motivation and dedication to reach your dreams is precious. Not a single, successful person woke up in the morning one day and said: "I think I will be successful starting now." Everything comes down to hard work and dedication.

Something I learned watching the Olympics this week, is that the quote you see above pertains to not only Michael Phelps once again being the champion he is but it shows that just like him we need to focus on the best we can be and not how you compare to others. Others cannot determine what that is for you. Those "so called friends" who limit you to the box you are supposed to be in, break out of it because you are so worth it. I realized going into college that I was worth fighting for, no achievement was ever too small and before I knew it, I found my passion and that is Chemistry. Math, reading, or whatever your challenge is does not discriminate, what really discriminates is your mind. Our minds like to nick pick every single thing we do, that is a sign of an intelligent person that is always wanting to improve. Sometimes right before you go to sleep, when your head is spinning about what you have to do the next day, just think how far you have come from the year, month, and even day before.

"And I don't really care if nobody else believes

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me"

- Rachel Platten "Fight Song"