Finals time is always the time of stress, of cramming, of a constant feeling of being overwhelmed. This year especially, I have felt like the work not only never seems to stop, but neither does the pressure and the competition, always making everything I can improve on so much more apparent. There is always something better that seems to illuminate what we are self-conscious of, or not proud of. There is always going to be something that we compare ourselves to, our lives to—that makes it seem like we have it worse, or what we are doing is less worthy.

It got me thinking, though, what is perfection worth anyway? What value is something that follows every norm and expectation? It’s the imperfections, the problems solved by taking the unheard of way, the flaws and imperfections that we accept and make our own—that make our lives so valuable. Every imperfection or lesson learned holds such a significant value in our lives, so what value would we gain if everything we did was completed taking the easy way out, no lessons learned anyway?

Everyone has a time in their life when they feel like they could’ve done better. Could’ve eaten that salad, could’ve studied harder, could’ve had a better interview, could’ve played a better game, could’ve been a more honest person—but the important thing to remember, actually the only thing to focus on once it's over, is how much value that lesson, or that test, or that game that led to hours of improvement impacted your life. It is the imperfections we have, the flaws that make up our personality, that give value to our progress in life. As we grow up, as we become different people, it's these differences and imperfections that hold the most value in building us into the people we are.

It is so important to be different, to look different, to think different, to speak differently than the people around us. Unique and different appearances, personalities, and characters are what make this life so interesting and so unpredictable. People will always make us second guess that. People will always make us look at ourselves and think we should be different. Someone will always do better and make us wonder why we couldn’t have been that lucky. We will compare our lives, and our misfortunes to the people’s around us and wonder where we went wrong or what could’ve went differently.

Remember that you are who you are and that is something to be proud of not ashamed of, no matter how different it may be. Accept who you are, what you are, and everything you are capable of and succeed with that acceptance, not by tearing yourself apart. Imperfections are what make us different, what give us something to work from, and what give our personalities so much freaking value. As cliché as it is, being yourself and being comfortable being yourself—not belittling people or beating yourself up over your differences—is the single most valuable thing in the world. Twenty imperfections that tell a story about you and where you come from are far more valuable than a mask of perfection. Be you—and be true to it.