Column: Confidence to try leads to success
Published April 20, 2010
It's nothing new, but they're words to live by: "It's better to try and fail than to never try at all."
Each graduating student — rather, every student — should not take this advice lightly. I might be writing this more for myself, but I'm sure we are more like one another than you suspect.
Stress is a term thrown around very loosely during the closing months of a college career.
"I'm sorry I blew you off, I'm under a lot of stress," or "I can't take all this stress."
I have to say I can empathize with this feeling, but I don't believe anyone who says it. This pressure to succeed after graduation is purely a mental construction that worries people to jump into the uncharted waters of a career they will change in about four years.
Think about where you were four years ago or even just two. You had everything figured out — your entire life. Congratulations. Now think about how awful it would have been to stick to that plan — after all, we can't all triple major in pre-med, pre-law and journalism.
To assume you can make a decision now about the next four years or further is slightly outrageous. Yes, you can get started on building your life, but I urge you to really put what you value first. Put your dreams and values first and your feet will follow.
It is irresponsible not to try to make your dreams comes true. People often get so close to achieving what they want and sabotage themselves at the last minute. You must forgive yourself and realize you do deserve happiness. Don't pretend to be a martyr -- get yours. These ideas are simple and, yes, seem ridiculous. But 10 years from now I guarantee you or someone you know will shoot themselves in the foot and be unhappy with his or her life.
All of us will drastically change in the next couple of years; it's inevitable and just. If not, everything we worked for up until this point in our lives was for naught. Allow you to be you.
I implore you to make amends because everyone at MU will look back at their college careers and regret something: a bad paper, a lost love, a not-so-hilarious-prank. Better take care of that atonement now before your story ends up as the plotline in an upcoming Kevin Costner film.
So really, this idea of stress is just that: an idea. There is nothing really stopping you from accomplishing your dreams except yourself and your own inhibitions. Everyone deserves to be happy, and I hope you don't write these words off as blind optimism. I have critically thought about what makes success achievable, and everyone I have talked to chalks a great deal of it up to a sense of self-worth and a positive attitude, things a graduate of MU should definitely have.
Don't force yourself into a box, seniors. Make your next step one you can be proud of, not because it brings you quick peace of mind or monetary success, but because it is a step that leads you in the quest to become whole and happy. Good luck and congratulations to the upcoming graduates.