Hello! My name is Emily, and I am
currently a freshman at Eastern University. I am a double major in business management and dance, a part
of the Leadership Fellows Program, and also involved in other various on-campus
clubs and activities. With such a
full schedule, many classes, and usually lots of homework, I recently have
realized that it is easy for me to become negative and to dwell on the
difficulties I’m facing when I’m feeling stressed and pressured. Because of this, I plan to use this
blog to encourage myself to look at the bright side of life! Each week for the rest of the semester,
I plan to come up with one thing that I am thankful for and to share it with
you! This could include a person, a place, a memory, something that happened
that week, etc., this way, I can be reminded of all the great things in life
while hopefully inspiring you to do the same!
After thinking about what I am
thankful for this week, I have realized that, despite how much work I have to
do, I am thankful for the opportunity to attend a school where I can learn and
grow. A study conducted on campaignforeducation.org found that 70 million children across the world are
unable to attend school. That
seems like a pretty ridiculous number if you ask me. God could have easily made me one of those 70 million kids,
and I’m not sure why, but He didn’t.
That’s not all though, I had the option to pick which school I wanted to
go to. Not only do I attend a
school – I attend the school that I chose
to attend. I attend a school where
I can not only learn the basics, but can expand on them and study what I
love. I attend a school where I
can freely be myself, openly love Jesus, dance, make friends, join clubs, and
eat an endless supply of food. It’s almost embarrassing how much of a luxury
that seems to be after putting things into perspective. Some kids don’t have the option to go
to any school to begin with, and here I am with an endless supply of options
when it comes to my education. It’s an unfair reality that I will never
understand, but all I can do is be thankful and use the opportunity I have to
the best of my ability. Looking at
statistics like those makes me not only thankful to be able to attend school,
but it also pushes me to study and use the knowledge I obtain over the next
four years to find a way to reach out to those 70 million.
School can often seem like a
boring, stressful, or bothersome requirement, but it’s something that too many
people all over the world long for and are deprived of. This motivates me to be thankful and
use the opportunity that God has given me to attend school. Next time I am tempted to complain about
writing a paper or having to study for a quiz, I am going to challenge myself
to be thankful for the fact that I have been given homework, rather than
dwelling on the negative thoughts racing through my mind as I struggle through
my assignments. I know I can’t be
the only one dealing with this, so if you are in school, I encourage you to
remember this and to challenge yourself to do the same!
