To my close-to-five loyal readers out there, I apologize that I have been out of the loop recently. This semester has definitely taken its toll on me. As I write this, I just got out of that one office on the first floor of Johnston Hall—yes, the one where you hand in that form so you can drop a class. I was struggling with this one class and throughout the past two weeks, I have been debating on whether or not dropping it would be the right thing. It’s not that I have never dropped a class (oops), but, in true senior fashion, it was hard to wrap my head around the idea that if I were to drop it, I’d have to take 18 credits next semester, which is precisely what I didn’t want to do in my last semester at Marquette.

After some phone calls to the motherland, some split opinions over iMessage with my friends, and extending my advising session for about fifteen more minutes, I decided that dropping the class might be my best option. Maybe it’s silly for me to say that having worked so hard throughout my years at Marquette to do well in my classes, I felt as if I might be jeopardizing all the work I have put into these past three years.

I still feel a certain uneasiness, but this scenario is just one of the many lessons I will take with me when I leave Marquette. I have been in situations before when I have tried my hardest and a perfectionist aura takes over me, but my efforts end without fruition. In this one class, I went to lecture, I took notes, I read the chapters, and I went to the review session, but nothing came out right.

Even with certain people, there are times when no matter how much you’ve tried, if there are no feelings or actions being reciprocated, you may as well have come to the end of the road with them. Sometimes, even when you’ve tried your hardest, things never end up in your favor. That’s all right. It’s fine to think that once in a while, that you need to throw your hands up and back down from the situation. You’re not giving up, you’re moving on. Nobody’s perfect and if we could do it all, there would be nothing to fix, nothing to say, and nothing to do. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, but you become stronger when you admit what you cannot do, and focus on what you can do.

Not every class is for everyone, not every major is for everyone, but that’s the most intriguing part about life. With all our different interests, backgrounds, and beliefs, what we have in common is that we are humans living under one same planet. To anyone struggling on whether to hold on or let go, just be proud of yourself when you try your hardest, and even though you might fall, what is truly commendable is rising up and facing any challenge you may be confronted with.