Pressure

Do you ever feel like you are constantly under pressure? I do. Life is packed with constant pressures--pressures to perform, pressure to succeed, pressure to be the best, pressure to get into the best grad-school. I believe that pressure can be a positive catalyst to help motivate and ensure productivity at times but when it is excessive, it can be destructive.

Pressure is something that I've been struggling with this semester. I am under pressure to work, to do my best in school, to impress my colleagues at student publications, to graduate with a job, to be active in my sorority and the list goes on. At what point do you take a break and decide that maybe all of these "things" that you thought were worthwhile may not really matter in the end. How do we prioritize the things we think are most important to us? Why do we spend so much time doing mindless activities?

The last four years of my life have been the most telling and the most difficult years of my life but I am thankful for them because my character has transformed. My identity I once possessed is no longer the case. I am extremely proud of the woman that I am today. While I'm not perfect, I am confident, hard-working, tenacious, loving, and loyal. I can confidently say that I am becoming the woman that I always envisioned I would become. The life that I once found so much meaning in frivolous things is no longer my priority. A life dedicated to purpose and relationships I build with others is my new priority.

They say that it takes time, trials, and experience to grow up and I truly believe that I've been through the best of times and the worst of times--perhaps too many up's and down's for someone my age. Pepperdine has shaped me into the woman that I am not because of the University but because of the experiences and lessons I learned while being there. Being abroad my sophomore year in Lausanne, Switzerland transformed me in ways I never thought possible and I am forever grateful for the friends that guided me along the way. Junior year I learned to live on my own. A transitional phase in my life that brought about true responsibility, my first apartment, and my first real-life internship at Christian Dior.

Now, as a senior, preparing to embark on the next phase of my life, I am searching for answers. God is never too late in providing answers and will never lead you down the wrong path. That is my source of strength right now that I am relying on to get me through these difficult times when the unknown seems to be looming in the distance. However, that distance seems to be getting closer and closer. The pressure and the reality of graduating from College is now setting in and my anxiety is increasing by the day. I am trying my best not to fear for I know at the end of day I am not the one in control.

Inspiring Images...