Dear Marisa,
It’s 1 a.m., you’re in the library, and you’re so exhausted that you can’t even see straight. There have been enough moments like this one so that they seem to all have blended together into this section of your brain that is labeled “too stressed to function.” You always come out of these situations alive and better than when you started your latest assignment, but it’s time to sit yourself down and realize why you’re pushing yourself so hard.
Take a step back from whatever you’re doing, and just breathe. The assignment you’re working on or the exam you’re studying for can wait two minutes for a mental (and maybe emotional) break. You have to realize that you’re doing all of this for a reason. Your future seems really scary, and sometimes you’re uncertain about what you’ll wind up doing, but you are staying up late and pushing yourself today because your future will be a good one. It doesn’t matter what you wind up doing because you are making sure, right now, that you will be successful and happy. Hard work always pays off.
This may seem untrue when you fail that exam that you studied hours for. It’s hard to wrap your brain around the idea that you won’t always be spending hours in the library or procrastinating on an assignment deadline. One day you will be making your own deadlines, leaving work at the office and living in your favorite city.
Remember: You’re very career-oriented, and your No. 1 goal in life is to be successful in your career. This means you have to do well now to do well in the future. Your GPA matters. That exam you may fail does not. You will overcome it, and you will do better on the next one. You are strong, and you will persevere.
It’s extremely important for you to realize that everything you are doing right now is benefitting your future. You have skipped going out once or twice to finish an assignment, or skipped out on a little sleep to make sure you really understand that concept. It is all worth it. You are smart, and you will succeed. I promise.
Love always,
Marisa
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