We’ve all made mistakes, some larger and more impactful than others. Sometimes they’re big enough to bog us down and impede our progress.

Even when things are at their worst, it’s important to never stop moving forward.

With that being said, I have been in college now far longer than I had originally planned.

Torn between what I’m interested in, what I’m good at, what would make me money, and, in more self-conscious years, what hypothetical people would respect me for doing, I’ve struggled to find my place in college since I started.

Whether it’s one thing or another, in spite of everything I’ve learned and can learn, I’m not a great student. I consider this to be my greatest failing as a person.

Not my proudest admission, but I feel it is important to mention.

I know I’m not the only person at USI who can admit to this, and I’m sure there are other students who have felt the same, sickening sensation of underachievement I have.

And what do all of us have in common? We’re still here.

Time and time again, I’ve thought “okay, college isn’t for me.” And at my darkest moments, I’ve considered dropping out.

You know, just leave, pick up a job that maybe I don’t really enjoy, but pays well, chapter that part of my life and move on. Maybe come back if I feel like it.

But that simply isn’t what I want for myself. I know what I want to do now, and I know I can become great at it if I keep trying.

And that’s what you have to remember—keep trying. We mess up all the time, and an unfortunate bunch of us will have that moment where we look at ourselves in the mirror and think “I can’t do this. I should just stop.”

But there isn’t a single thing you may want for yourself that isn’t worth working toward. You’ve made mistakes as a student, you’ve felt the sting as yet another class has to be retaken, but if it means enough to you, you won’t let it stop you.

I certainly don’t intend to.