By Kaylin Miller
College can be filled with difficult times and obstacles such as homesickness, finding a time management schedule that works for them, roommate conflicts, and many mental health issues that an individual may face as they take a step into their future. As a college student, I have faced some major obstacles that could have knocked me down and stumped my learning and growth, but a wise woman once told me that:
“Everything happens for a reason.”
That wise woman was my mother and I live by these words every day of my life.
In the prime of my college experience, when I should have been living my life to the fullest and having fun with friends, I struggled with mental health issues that prevented me from experiencing the moments that were presented in front of me. Specifically, I can remember one dark February night during my junior year of college when I arrived back to my dorm room after a very long day of classes, sports practice, and homework. I came home late at night when the moon was shining bright and the world seemed quiet, but my racing thoughts about the pounds of homework on my desk and the overwhelming ideas about what I could have done better through the day were loud. There was an ominous breeze in the air that sent shivers down my spine, and I started to feel a sense of overwhelming anxiety deep in my chest. As I walked in my dorm room and sat on my bed with the television playing the opening dialogue of the new season of Outer Banks, I was trying to calm these voices in my head. I tried to distract my brain by working on homework, yet that only seemed to cause more overwhelming thoughts in my head.
Anyone who has experienced anxiety knows how difficult it can be to take yourself away from the dark places that consume your brain and into a state of mind that is not clouded by what ifs. At this moment, I decided there was only one person that would be able to help me: my mother.
I called my mother in the late hours when she should have been sleeping. She answered and I could hear the tiredness in her voice and the worry in her tone because I rarely call her during these hours unless there is an emergency. It felt silly to call her over some overwhelming thoughts in my brain but nonetheless she was able to help me through. I explained the feeling in my chest and the overwhelming amount of work that was looming over me. I will never forget her next words to me.
She said, “What is happening in your life right now is exactly what is meant to happen. God would never put you in a situation that you are not able to handle, and he would never make you go through something that would not benefit you down the road.”
A lot of people may know the saying, “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers,” but I feel that many people do not actually look at it in the perspective it is meant to be understood. This saying is meant to explain the exact words my mother said to me that night, and I truly believe that she is completely right because that exact moment is one that showed me that I can persevere through difficult times. If it were not for me having those overwhelming thoughts and feelings of anxiety, I would have never learned about how to change your train of thought
into a positive and the way it could change my life. Also, from this moment on I was able to understand the true meaning of the popular saying “Everything happens for a reason” and really take it into account when playing out scenarios in my brain. If I never went through that bad relationship four years ago, I would not know what true love is and what it is not. If I had never broken my hand before a huge cheerleading competition, I would have never known how to get back up after falling. If I never failed that class, I would not know the true enlightenment of passing. And if I never fall, I will never rise above.
