Coming into college, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I demanded perfect grades of myself, and in many cases, this required me to put aside other activities, friends, and even sleep and my health. Not only is that an infeasible way to live life, but it also certainly doesn’t cause anybody to look twice at college as an exciting opportunity.
Someone I trusted observed my need for perfection and warned me that this road could have negative long-term consequences for my health. At a critical point, I needed to make a choice. I could quit because college was too overwhelming, or I could come to accept that I wasn’t going to excel at everything.
In the course of my time in college, a few balls were going to drop for the sake of my health, my relationships, and my sanity! While I still strove to do my best in school, I had to accept my best as enough.
Over time, I have gained a perspective that has allowed me to love learning. At the end of the day, scores are just scores, and in the grand scheme of things, they won’t mean much. What matters is the knowledge and experiences I have taken away from college. Looking back, I realize that I came into college afraid to try things that I had not already mastered, which didn’t teach me much at all.
This new mindset gave me the courage to try something wildly different, and in June, I traveled to Uganda with a research group. In the process of carrying out my research, my group was able to encourage girls to stay in school to complete their own educations by maintaining their menstrual health and hygiene Until then, I’m not sure that I understood the real benefits of education.
For these girls, education was more than seeking a job after their certificates. Education was for life. Education meant learning to reason and consumes information so that they could contribute to safe and successful villages for their children.
Education meant learning to read and count so that they could understand written information concerning their health and finances, and run small businesses to provide for their families. Learning was more than scores and prestige. It was feeding their keen interest in the world. Education was for their families and education was for them.
We as women would do well to remember that none of us are perfect, but we miss out on so much if we give everything up in the name of perfection. In giving our best effort, we’ll never regret what we gain from a willingness to try. If we pick ourselves up one more time than we fall down then that is what will truly matter in the end.
