8 - "Dont stop when you're tired, stop when you're done"

“Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done.”  Everyone has been in a situation where you’re working too hard and you feel you can no longer go on because you’re too drained and it seems that you’re not even half close to obtaining that goal, then you back down.

Let me share my experience; Two years ago I enrolled here at APC, I still remember how excited I was that I finally went back to school. Mixed emotions, that’s how I felt on my first day! I was relieved that I survived, I got to be acquainted and had the basic knowledge of the subjects. Then on our next meeting, we started the formal discussions in class that is when I started to panic, I was at loss for I barely understand what my professor said. I went home and felt really disappointed and the excitement I felt during enrollment was gone.

I pondered if it was a right decision to go back to school or should I just be contented with my life back then. While I was going over these questions, I remembered someone who believes on my capabilities, that I could improve of what I’m doing if I finish my studies. So, I gave it another shot, I did a couple of advance reading to be able to catch up with the lessons. The result? I was quite happy because I’m back on track. But that’s not the end of my agony, another thing is a Project. It requires to do a lot of writing and research. I contemplated again, asked myself if I could do it. One thing I’m not good at is, definitely, writing. It’s on top of the list which I’m terrible at doing. I felt so restless that I didn’t know how I should start it, I honestly cried for help. Seriously, how could I be able to finish a whole paper if I can’t finish a 500-word critical analysis paper? It was indeed, a struggle for me and I really lost my confidence on myself, I was letting myself down telling I couldn’t do it. But I realized I never did anything on my life that I’d have to push my limits. So If I’m not going to do it now, I won’t ever have a chance of doing it again. Then, I will end up giving up and I might regret for not trying. I did try and looking back, It wasn’t a good paper but I made it on my own and it was a good start, I considered it as an accomplishment for me that I was able to surpass that phase of my life as a student.

 Here’s a piece of advice; it always depends on you. It rests on you, you’ll be the one who’ll make decisions and these decisions will be a way for you to succeed or fail. If you do fail, don’t ever give up. What do you get from giving up? You wasted your time and effort just for nothing! No one ever said that life is easy, it would endlessly shower you with challenges. But isn’t life more meaningful with it? Yes, it would take a long time to accomplish it but when you do, you’ll feel pure happiness and relief, pleased that your struggles was worth it. Struggling teach us the habits of success: how to work hard, how to take risks, how to move on from the things that don’t succeed.  We may experience failure, work may not be good at first but eventually get better when we keep on trying. The important thing is not to give up, and I’m glad I didn’t.