Read this if you’re ready to give up

Thomas Edison once said “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

At times, we find ourselves in tough situations where we just want to give up. What we fail to realize is that although we may feel temporary relief by giving up, we are not thinking of the long term regret we will bring on ourselves.

When I first started undergrad, I had the most trouble getting adjusted to college life. With little support, I had a much more difficult time enjoying what many people call the best four years of their life.

I lacked resources, support, finances, and most importantly, self-confidence.

I was ready to quit.

I thought it was the best thing for me to do at the time especially since everyone around me thought the same.

But then I realized that I was shaping my decisions around everyone else’s opinions. I felt no happiness giving up on school and staying home hoping to find an alternative to how I wanted to live my life.

Besides, I’m not a quitter anyway.

I talked with myself. I thought to myself what I would gain by not going back to school. Yes, I would be less stressed financially because I can just stay at home and work. I also won’t have to worry much about finding resources or a support system because I will be able to suit myself. Everything that I believed would be good for me was all things that would temporarily relieve and solve my problems.

I also mapped out how not finishing undergrad would affect me in the long run. I would not have any credentials. I probably would have been stagnant in the same workplace, and I would have not discovered myself, the drive I have, or the connections that I’ve met throughout my years in college. I felt as if I had more losses than gains.

Despite the odds that tried to stop me from continuing school (and trust me, I had a lot), I beat every one of them and pursued my goal of being a first-generation graduate.

After struggling for three to four years, I am excited to be a senior almost at the finish line. In less than seven months, I will be a college graduate.

If I were to give in to my greatest weakness of giving up, I would not be where I am today. I don’t know exactly where I would be, but I’m happy where I’m at. The best way I was able to succeed, or at least be on the road to success, was to just try one more time. No matter what it is in life, you should do the same.