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Life > Experiences

Everything Happens For a Reason

Stephanie Karl
The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

Growing up, my mom’s favorite phrase to was “everything happens for a reason”. You did not make the JV basketball team in middle school; everything happens for a reason. You got waitlisted at your dream college, everything happens for a reason. 

She always said it to my sisters and I when we were upset with something. I hated that phrase. It was usually said after a personal failure and I usually just wanted to throw myself a pity party, so I did not want to hear everything happens for a reason. 

I also thought my mom just said it because she did not understand why I was upset. She did not understand how badly I wanted to be on the JV basketball team before I technically should have been. She did not know how hard I worked to get into my dream school, in my favorite city, and then to not even get rejected but waitlisted was literally soul crushing. She never played basketball or applied to the school I did, so how could she understand? 

My mom might not have been in the exact same situations as I encountered growing up, but she still had her moments of unpleasant things happening and she was not just saying everything happens for a reason because she did not understand. Knowing that she truly believed in the phrase made me reevaluate my thoughts on the phrase. 

Over the last two years, I have grown to appreciate the phrase. If I was not waitlisted at my dream college, I would not have ended up at St. Bonaventure, which has become my favorite place. I would not have met the people who changed my life for the better. I would not even be writing this article. 

Knowing that everything happens for a reason has made the unpleasant things that happen in life better. I still take a moment to feel bad for myself, but I know that the unpleasant event happened for a reason. I know that something good is coming for me. 

I have even started telling other people that everything happens for a reason. My little sister has had a rough time this past year with friends, school, and sports, so whenever she reaches out to me to talk about it, I always tell her everything happens for a reason. She rolls her eyes at me just like I used to do to my mom, but I tell her she might not believe it now, but one day she will realize that everything happens for a reason.

Next time something unpleasant happens, it is ok to be sad, but also remember, that everything happens for a reason. 

Stephanie is a new member of St. Bonaventure's Her Campus. She plans to write about politics, music, pop culture, college and life in general. Stephanie is a senior political science major and a communication minor. She is also the SBU College Democrats Student Government Representative, Vice President of the SBU Fitness Club, and a member of the SBU Dance Team. In her free time, Stephanie likes to hang with her friends, watch The West Wing, listen to her favorite artists which include Niall Horan, Taylor Swift, and Isak Danielson, and walk with her mom and dog. Stephanie can frequently be found with an Iced Matcha Latte in her hand.